The Three Deaths of the Theater Dandy
by Mr. Chaos
Summary: Sequel to "The Authors in the Crossover". When a retired actor dies, Martha Rodgers and Hank Booth drag their families into the mess, leading to nursing home politics, romance plotting, a book signing, and a hotel dance party. Part two of the ABCverse
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: I do not own Bones or Castle. All characters are original and are not based on anyone unless otherwise stated. This story is a sequel to "The Authors in the Crossover". Please read that story. If you did not enjoy that story, or any facet of that (including a cameo appearance by a certain writer) then I suggest you turn around and leave this story right now and go read one of the many other fine Bones or Castle stories out there.

^&^&^&^

It was intermission, and Martha Rodgers sulked off to her dressing room, allowing herself a moment to glare at the director before shutting the door.

She was the finest actress of her generation, at least in her own mind, but did the director have her performing before the greatest critics New York had to offer, or singing her heart out before starlets in Los Angeles? NO! Instead, she was here outside Washington DC, performing for an old folk's home.

Oh, she understood why the director had wanted to put on this charity performance. Terrance Dashel, an old friend of the director and a retired actor, lived at the nursing home currently, and the director had heard he was dying to see the play. Thus, the trope had packed up and were not performing in this theater in front of a group of candy eating, hard of hearing, wrinkled, farting, old of dirt nursing home residents.

"I can't believe we have to do this." She complained to Gregory, who was checking to make sure his makeup hadn't smeared on his collar. While Martha considered this HER dressing room, it was in fact for all the actors, male or female at this point.

"It makes Fredrick happy." Gregory stated. Gregory was someone who had never dreamed of anything more than performing in small theaters. The bright lights and grand adventures that came from fame were not for him, and thus he found the trip only stressful in the fact that he had to make sure he remembered to pack everything.

Martha sighed. "And what makes me happy is when our lines can be heard over the sound of candy wrappers." She focused on her makeup, frowning when she noticed a slight blemish. She didn't bother to get one of the so called make-up artists to fix it. Instead, she took the sponge herself and got to work. "Or making a few dollars."

"There is more to life than money." Gregory stated.

"Yes, there is also sex." Martha commented, "And I will be getting none from any of the men out there."

Gregory scoffed. "Can't you find anything to enjoy about tonight."

"But of course…I am giving quite a performance, and I enjoy that fact very much."

^&^&^&^

"I thought you said this was a Western."

The orderly sighed, wishing once again that they had been able to lock Hank Booth in a closet and leave him behind. "It is, Mr. Booth."

Hank wagged his finger at the man. "Oh no, don't you dare say that. You don't sing in westerns, or have Irishmen running hotel, or have more love stories than you do gun fights. I do like the brothel owner though…he's a good villain when he ain't singing." Hank threw up his hands. "And why the hell is this taking place in Seattle?"

The orderly sighed. "It is a musical, Mr. Booth. Of course there is singing."

"Then it isn't a western, I was lied too, and I demand you find a way to repay me."

"We aren't making you pay anything for the performance…its free."

"It is costing me my sanity…how will you pay me back for that?"

The orderly bit his tongue to keep himself from commenting on his own sanity.

Hank Booth looked ready to go on another rant when the gunshot was heard. All heads turned towards the empty theater, and for several moments no one seemed to know what to do. Then the chaos occurred, as the residents of the nursing home began to move away from the doors, several complaining of chest pains or labored breathing, others crying out or trying to shove their neighbors out of their escape route.

But unlike the ret of those weak willed little pansies (and Hank Booth included the orderlies in that list), the former military man stormed through the crowd, brushing away their frightened cries and calls and moved towards the door. Giving it a few experimental tugs, he found the door locked. Narrowing his eyes, he rushed forward, slamming his shoulder into the wood.

Halfway through, he realized the door was a push, not a pull.

He toppled to the ground, slow to get up but not allowing anyone to see his pain, or his bruised ego. Standing, he saw several of the actors from the non-western were all on stage, staring at some…thing…laying down in the orchestra pit. Most of them looked ill, one man letting out a girlish wail before he fainted dead away. Hank muttered something about being a lightweight and made his way towards the stage.

Hank gave Martha a grim nod as she climbed down the stage steps to join him, complaining herself about a lack of real men. Now here was someone he could respect!

"Ok people, move it, actress coming through!"

"Retired MP!" Hank called out.

Martha gave him a look, but said nothing. The two of them made their way into the orchestra pit, staring down at the sight before them.

There lay he body of an elderly gentlemen, eyes screwed up in his head, fingers like claws and a vicious red mark running across his neck. A vomit-like film covered his mouth and lower jaw, and it was clear he had been thrashing about.

Hank knelt down. "Strangulation, that much is clear. Someone needs to call the police"

Martha shook her head. "No need. I'll merely call my son. He works with the New York police department."

Hank shook his head. "Quite a drive for him…be easier if I call the Shrimp and have him and his partner come down."

Martha scoffed. "Trust me on this, old timer…my son is the best there is at solving these mysteries."

"maybe in New York, but my boy and Tempe would wipe the floor with them."

"I seriously doubt that." Martha challenged.

"Then I guess we will find out!" Hank snapped, going to search for a phone. "Demented old crow."

"Decrepit billygoat."


	2. Chapter 2

Temperance looked over the body carefully, resisting the urge to lift up the ulma and see if the marks she knew would suggest fraturing by a blunt object would be there. She could not ris compromising the bone in the slgihtest.

"Mr. Eddison, examine the scoring marks on the 3rd rib, please." She said, the rest of her team mulling about.

Clark just stood there.

"Mr. Eddison?" Temperance asked, glancing up.

"I'm sorry...I...I just can't do this anymore." Clark said in disgust.

Temperance sighed. It appeared that, yet again, Mr. Eddison was going to quit on them. "I had thought we were avoiding comments on our personal life..."

Clark groaned. "No, I mean I can't keep pretending like this."

"Clark, don't." Cam warned.

"She deserves to know!" Clark snapped back, before turning to Temperance. "This is all fake."

"excuse me?" Temperance asked.

"Everything...the way we treat you, the results of the cases, everything." He leaned in close. "Four years ago, you got out of bed, tripped over a sock and cracked your skull open. Since then, you haven't understood a damn thing about the human skeleton...you lost every ounce of knowledge you had." He shook his head. "But you being a big, powerful writer that funds alot of big wigs in Washington, well, no one wanted you to know. They were afraid the money would dry up. So they let you play doctor and then a second team has to actually solve it after hours."

Temperance looked around at her friends. "Where did he get this idea?"

Hodgins shifted uneasily. "From the contracts we all signed that said we would do this."

Angela nodded weakly. "Its true, sweetie."

Temperance shook her head. "No...no, this is some sort of prank." She began to laugh, but no one joined her. "come on guys...right? Ha ha, you tricked me, now lets get back to our stabbing victim."

"he was shot." Clark said, pointing to the bullet hole Temperance knew wasn't there a minute ago.

"Wait..." Temperance said, confused.

Angela began to laugh. "Come on sweetie, you must have realized none of this was real...I mean, 3D holographic imagers that can replicate the events of a crime?" Angela did the international sign for insanity.

Cam nodded. "I'm just bloody well glad I can stop talking in that American accent." She stated with a full cockney swagger. "Felt you would respond better to a yank, they did."

Temperance slowly backed away. "Ok, now the joke isn't funny."

Hodgins grinned. "Now that she knows, we can get Zack back."

"Zack?" Temperance whispered, watching as, from an office she had never bothered to enter, Zack and, of all people, Howard Epps emerged, laughing their heads off.

"Yeah...he was promoted to lead the real FBI team that solves the cases. Agent Epps is his partner."

"But...but I..."

"Hey guys..." Booth said, running up the platform. "What's up?"

"Temperance knows." Angela stated.

"She right does know, gov'nor." Cam stated, Temperance blinking and wondering since when did Cam wear a full beefeater uniform.

Booth let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God, now I can stop pretending to be flirting with you!" He wiped a hand across his brow. "Man, Rebecca was getting so pissed I had to keep making puppy dog eyes at you. And hey, we can finally let that kid Parker go back to his real family! Good actor, but a bit too clingy."

"But...but...but..." Temperance stammered, glancing over at Angela, who was pulling off what apparently was a wig to reveal a long mane of red hair.

"She isn't taking this too well, is she?" Booth asked Hodgins, who was now wearing a rabbit costume.

"Nope." Hodgins stated. He shook his head. "We better get her out of here, Seeley." Hodgins paused. "But make sure you get her some clothing."

"Get me..." Temperance looked down, screaming as she realized she was completely naked. Epps held up a cellphone, snapping a quick photo.

"Bones...hey Bones, wake up..."

^&^&^&^

"Bones..." Booth hissed, shaking his partner. "Wake up, we're here..."

"Stop looking at my breasts!" Temperance shouted as she woke up.

Booth's hand jerked away as if she were on fire. "I only glanced at them for a second!"

"What?"

"What?"

"Uh...we're here." Booth said.

"Oh." Temperance stated. She paused, considering herself. "A phlangee is finger bone, right?"

"I guess." Booth muttered, wondering when exactly his partner had gone crazy.

^&^&^&^

"Richard!" Martha called out, waving to him. Richard Castle headed over to his mother, Det. Kate Beckett and his daughter Alexis following right behind. "Oh, thank goodness you were able to come! I swear, no one here knows what they are doing. That one man..." She pointed in disgust as Hank Booth, "keeps mumbling about calling his grandson in. I have this terrible fear we will have some poor 5 year old poking about the body." She paused, taking a breath. "Why is Alexis here? Not that I am not glad to see you, my dear..."

Castle shrugged. "I wasn't going to leave her alone, mother. And I couldn't get a babysitter."

Beckett nodded. "And I am here because I wasn't going to leave Castle alone and couldn't get a babysitter."

Castle let out a dry chuckle. "Oh, detective, you wound me so."

"And one of these days it will be a physical wound."

Alexis, apparently the only mature one in the group, turned towards the body. "Do you know who died, Grams?"

Martha shook her head. "I am not for sure. Appears to be one of the old coots, but one can't be sure."

"Well then, lets go look at the dead body." Castle said with glee. He paused when he found Beckett not following him. "Please?" he asked, giving her puppy dog eyes.

Beckett groaned. "Never make that face again and we can." She said, heading towards the body.

They only got 4 steps before Hank Booth intercepted them.

"Now wait just a minute." The old man said, wagging a finger at them. "That's as close as you are getting."

Beckett flashed her badge. "Its ok, we'll take it from here."

But Hank wasn't moving. "Even if this was New York, where that badge might mean something, I still wouldn't move. My grandson and that partner of his is going to be here any moment, and I am not going to allow you to wreck their crime scene. Seeley had told me enough horror stories of what Temperance does when someone messes up her crime scene."

Beckett's eyes widened. "Wait...Temperance Brennan?"

"WHy yes...do you know her?"

"Hell yes we do!" Castle said with glee.

"And we know them, Pops." Booth said, entering the theater. "Castle!"

"Hey, Booth!" Castle called out, waving like a child.

Beckett held her head in her hands. "This is a bad dream...a terrible dream."

"Why is she holding her head like that?" Temperance whispered.

"Just glad to see us."

Temperance blinked, but smiled as Hank walked up to her, giving her a hug. Temperance loved Hank...he felt more like a father than her own father did, and se always felt a quiet peace come over her when she was around him.

"They wanted to poke around that body, but I kept them away." Hank said as he finalyl released her.

Temperance grinned. "Then I owe you, Hank."

Booth gave his grandfather a hug next. "But don't worry about those two...they are friends of ours."

"Strange friends, Shrimp." Hank said, nodding towards Castle and Beckett. "The tall one I've seen before."

Castle, hearing this, chimed in, as it became apparent it was time for the partners to swap family members. Booth and Temperance went over to greet Alexis and Martha, while Castle returned to Hank. "HAve you ever heard of Derrick Storm?"

"That whiny detective?" Hank asked. "Mabel loves those books." Hepointed to a plump little lady who waved at the group. Castle gave her a weak wave while Beckett laughed. "Sorry about stopping you, but well..."

Beckett sighed. "Probably for the best. The last time I got between Dr. Brennan and a body we nearly had a catfight."

"And what a wonderful thought that would be." Castle said with a dreamily look.

Hank jerked his finger towards Castle. "What's wrong with Short Bus here?"

"He's just being an idiot." Beckett stated, turning back to Booth and Temperance. "Well, it seems we are no longer needed, if you two are here." She looked ready to bolt. "Come on Castle, lets get back-"

"No need." Castle said, holding up his phone. "As soon as I saw Temperance, I sent a text to Deputy Director Cullen."

Before Booth could question this, is phone began to ring. "Booth...yes sir...very well sir." He shut his phone. "Cullen wants Castle and Det. Beckett to help consult on the case...said it gained the department some good standing the last time the four of us worked together..."

Castle grinned, wrapping one arm around Temperance and another around Beckett. "Be like old times!"

"Joy." Beckett muttered.

"I do not like this." Temperance stated.

Martha shook her head. "For God's sake, just kiss and make up before that body rots away."

"Yes, by all means...kiss." Castle whispered.

Temperance and Beckett pushed themselves away, Beckett rolling her eyes while Temperance went into examination mode. Followed by Castle and Booth (who was trying to decide if he should shoot Castle for the comment or buy him a beer) the four approached the body. "Kate, would you mind questioing Mrs. Castle and my grandfather while we look at the body?"

"Its Miss Rodgers, my dear boy...if you would like to make an honest woman out of me..." Martha purred.

"I see where Short Bus gets it." Hank whispered to Alexis, who tried hard not to laugh at her father's new nickname.

"So you heard a gunshot?" Beckett asked the two of them.

Pops nodded, turning away from the snickering Alexis to the stern face of Det. Beckett. "Yes detective. One gunshot. It took me roughly four minutes to get into the theater, fighting the crowds out in the lobby. When I arrived, there was the old cr...I mean your mother, Mr. Castle, waiting on stage with the theater crew."

Martha glared at Hank but merely began to tell her side of the story. "I was in my dressing room with Gregory when we heard a gunshot. After a few moments we hurried out, but had to take the long way...the set doors had been blocked during the performance and we needed to go alongthe side route. It took us...I don't know, maybe 2 minutes, to get onot stage, and when we looked down into the pit..."

Beckett nodded. "You are sure it was a gunshot."

Hank nodded, speaking before Martha could. "She's right, detective. I was an MP...I know the difference between a falling book and a gunshot."

Meanwhile, Temperance and Booth were busy inspecting the body. "He's elderly, I'd say at least late 70s. Bruising around the neck suggests he was strangled from behind...I can't be certain if this was cause of death until we strip the flesh. Otherwise, his body is in good condition...plently of flesh fo Cam to work with." Temperance removed her gloves. "Anything?"

Booth nodded. "Wallet...does the name Terrance Dashel mean anything to you?"

Several of the actors in the theater company let out murmurs.

"I'm guessing it does to them." Temperance stated.

"Dashel...we were putting on this performance for him." Gregory stated. "He is a legend in the theater world."

"And it looks like his legend just grew." Booth stated. "We'll have to confirm it, but it appears this is Mr. Dashel, and he was murdered."

Both the theater company and the nursing home residents began to buzz about them.

"Did you find the bullet?" Castle asked, walkng up to them.

"What bullet?" Booth asked.

"The one that shot him?" Beckett stated.

"He wasn't shot." Temperance said. "Strangled, yes..."

"Both Mr. Booth and Martha say they heard a gunshot." Beckett stated.

Temperance frowned. "Then it wasn't at him. THere were no wounds on his body."

"And all if found was a wallet and this cigar." Booth said, lifting up the baggy containing the half smoked cigar in it. "I'll have a crew search the theater for a bullet."

"And we'll have the body taken to the Jeffersonian." Temperance paused. "And since you are consulting on the case, I believe that means you will be joining us."

Castle practically bounced up and down. "I finally get to see the Lab!?!"

"What's so great about the lab, Seeley?" Beckett asked.

"Oh Kate...be prepared to be pissed off at what your tax dollars pay for."

^&^&^&^

Author's Notes: The dream was originally my idea for a one shot, but I then came up with dreams for Castle, Beckett and Booth (and maybe another few people) and decided to make them one of the many subplots in the story. I will only say of the dreams that Booth's one will be a real treat for fans of his other works, as it involves a cameo from a certain character that...well...I can't say any more than that.

I, of course, own neither of the shows, but they are welcome to use these ideas...as long as they consider, if doing either story for real, relaly letting me guest star (chuckles)

Finally, some of you may notice Temperance acting a bit differently. It you remember, in "The Authors in the Crossover" Temperance realized that she had stopped acting like her true self when she partnered with Booth. Since that story, she has been moving quicker to return to her first season, less naive and more playful persona.

Now, someone asked me about the timelines for these stories. it goes:

-The Anthropologist in the Watchtower

-The Scrooge in the Labcoat

-The Authors in the Crossover

-The Three Deaths of the Theater Dandy

This story takes place in Feb., the Crossover takes place in September/October.

Finally, if anyone has a suggestion of what to call this new universe I am creating, I am all years.


	3. Chapter 3

Beckett glared at Castle as he walked ahead of hr, chatting with Temperance and Booth. He didn't seem to care in the slightest that she was practically jogging to try and keep up with them, the three taking long strides across the Jeffersonian's lawn. They were chatting about the case, her case, as if she weren't even around.

"Castle!" She called out.

Castle ignored her. "So I am thinking we should see if your bug guy can determine if there is anything-"

"Castle!" Beckett tried again, growing more frustrated.

"That's a good idea." Temperance stated.

"Castle!" Beckett shouted, now in a full run to catch up to them.

Booth nodded, pulling out his phone. "I'll have my guys…"

"CASTLE!" Beckett screamed, stopping where she stood. She glared at them, eyes narrowed as the three finally turned to her.

"Yes?" Castle asked innocently.

"You're walking to fast!" Beckett complained, stomping her foot. "And you aren't listening to me, and you are ignoring me…" Beckett looked up, way up, at the three of them. "It isn't nice!"

Castle gave her a weak smile, kneeling down so he could look her in the eye. "I'm sorry Beckett…now, what is it you wanted?"

Beckett frowned, trying to remember what she had wanted to tell him. She tugged at the frilly pink tutu she wore before her eyes lit up.

"Look at what I can do!" She squealed, spinning once in a circle, pigtails flopping about. She stopped, grinning at Castle, who lifted her four-year old frame up. Beckett turned to Booth and Bones and smiled. "Hi! I'm Katie! I'm Castle's par-ner!" She pointed to the plastic sheriff badge pinned to her tutu. "See?"

"Nice to meet you Katie." Booth said. "Are you going to help with the case?" His tone made it clear he was humoring the girl.

"Yup! Cuss I'm Castle's par-ner!" She said happily, yawning at the end of her statement.

"Well, before you can help, you need a N-A-P."

Beckett shook her head. "No no no no no!"

^&^&^&^

"Beckett…Beckett, wake up." Castle said calmly.

"nnnnnn….Katie no want nap…" Beckett mumbled.

"Ok, but you already got one."

Beckett slowly opened her eyes to find Castle staring at her with amusement. "Huh?"

"I said we are here…Booth and Temperance are getting our badges." Castle opened the door to the car and walked around to help Beckett out. "Good thing I drove huh?"

Beckett rubbed her eyes. "You're only happy because me being asleep is the only time you can talk to me without getting threatened with castration."

Castle shrugged. "Not arguing with that…come on."

^&^&^&^

Beckett looked around the Lab, eyes taking in the swarm of squints scurrying about, clipboards in hand and lab coats buttoned fluttering behind them. Armed guards stood at all the exits, and it looked like there was more tech here than in all of New York.

"You are right, Booth…I am mad that my tax dollars pay for this."

Temperance frowned, slipping on her lab coat. "Much of what you see was paid through donations, not tax dollars."

"Ok, then I am mad that there are kids starving to death and you have the bridge of the Enterprise to work on."

Castle grinned. "Look at you Beckett, pulling out the geek knowledge."

"I assure you, everything here is needed."

"And how is the giant opened air examining platform something you need?" Beckett asked.

"Because it's cool as hell?" Castle asked.

"And you have only seen a small bit of it." Martha said, Alexis and Hank following close behind her, each sporting a new visitor's badge. "I must say, Richard, why aren't you working with a place such as this. No offensive Detective."

"None taken." Beckett muttered.

Booth, meanwhile, had pulled Angela aside. "Listen, would you mind showing Ms. Rodgers around?"

Angela shrugged. "Sure…can't do much until Brennan has the flesh stripped…but aren't you more concerned about the kid?"

"Trust me…" Castle said, joining the conversation, "you need to worry more about my mother poking about."

Angela nodded. "Of course. One old-timer baby sister, coming up." Plastering on a grin, Angela moved towards Martha. "Hi, Angela Montenegro."

"Ah, hello there." Martha said happily, shaking her hand. "Montenegro…Montenegro…now where have I heard that name before." Martha paused. "No matter, I must have merely known your father in a past life." She patted Angela on the shoulder. "No worries, I am not your birth mother."

Angela gave Booth and Castle a dark look as she slowly guided Martha towards her office, the two men knowing they were in for it when she got them alone.

"Dr. Brennan, is it ok if I look around? I promise not to enter any restricted areas."

Temperance regarded Alexis for a moment. "You have shown to have a greater level of maturity than many young women your age, so I suppose a small level of trust can be offered."

Hank smiled. "Don't worry Temperance, I'll go with her." He offered his arm to Alexis. "If the young lady will allow an old gentlemen to escort her?"

Alexis smiled, taking his arm. "I have always relied upon the kindness of strangers." The two of them sharing an amused look before retreating into the depths of the Jeffersonian.

Booth clapped his hands together. "Now that the kids are away, the parents can get to work." He swiped his card, heading up onto the platform. "Clark, see you are the lucky one who will be working for us this time."

Clark said nothing, focused instead on his work of examining an exposed knee cap on the body of Terrence Dashel.

Castle, after being shown how to work his card, joined Booth, looking at Clark. "Hello there, Rick Castle, famous author, the man your girlfriends dream about at night. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand, which was ignored. "Is he deaf or something?"

"Clark feels that it is best to focus on work related issues, and not mix personal events in with them." Temperance stated.

"I like him already." Beckett stated the last to walk onto the platform.

"You'll change your tune soon enough, Det. Beckett." Hodgins said. "Dr. Jack Hodgins, bug and slime guy." He looked down at Dashel. "Why is it whenever you come around, you bring me such wonderful corpses to look at?"

"Must just be lucky, I guess." Beckett stated.

"Det. Beckett, Mr. Castle, I ask you to pay no attention to Dr. Hodgins." Cam stated, removing her gloves and stepping away from the body. "He can be stupid but you get use to him."

"Like a rash." Booth quipped.

"Oh ha ha ha." Hodgins said with mock laughter.

"Don't be too upset, Dr. Hodgins, looks like we have a lot of particulates for you to examine." Cam said.

"And you win me back with a few simple words." Hodgins replied.

Temperance moved over to Clark. "What have you found, Mr. Edison?"

"Fractures on the knees are congruent with injuries Terrance Dashel received as a child. They are enough to confirm his identity." Clark looked up at her. "There is little more I can gather at the moment, with the flesh remaining as it does."

"Ok, flesh is your department Cam, so start spilling." Booth stated.

"No need to rush me, Seeley…let a girl take her time."

Castle grinned, sidling up to the Medical Examiner. "I never rush."

"So I've heard." Cam stated. "The markings on his neck suggest strangulation or a garroting. Whatever was used was thick. I will have Clark try and identify the material and Dr. Hodgins will see if any particulates were forced into the flesh during the attack."

Beckett frowned. "Is there any way to determine how strong the person who did this was?" When the others looked at her, she elaborated. "There was a wide range of people there…actors, theater workers, the nursing home residents. Being able to determine the strength of the killer would help narrow down the field."

Hodgins nodded, following her completely. "I think I have just the way. I'll set something up to test the theory…will take only a few minutes, really."

Cam held up a hand. "Before you go racing off…" She grabbed two jars and handed them to him. One had a finger bobbing inside a preserving liquid; the other contained a selection of cigars.

"Strange way to party." Castle muttered.

"I need you to check the finger…there was some kind of paste under one of the nails. As for the cigars…"

"Smoke'em if you got'em?" Hodgins asked.

"Cute, but note. See if there is anything unusual about them. As a resident at the home, Mr. Dashel wasn't allowed to have cigars."

Booth nodded. "That's right…Pops got in trouble for doing just that."

Hodgins gave them a mock salute before leaving with his goodies.

Temperance moved about the body, checking it over for anything else that might provide clues to the murderer or the crime. Finally she stood up. "There isn't any more I can do at the moment. Cam, are you finished with the body?"

"Just have to order a tox screen, but otherwise he is all yours."

"Mr. Edison, please remove the flesh and clean the bones."

Beckett grimaced slightly. "You know, you could talk about him with a little…respect."

"Why? He is merely flesh and bone…none of his loved ones are here…"

Beckett just rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, do as you like Dr. Frankenstein." She turned to Booth. "Now, what are our plans for investigation?"

"I am going to arrange a meeting with the theater trope, check in on them first, then move on to the nursing home, see if they would know of any reasons to kill him."

Castle frowned. "Hey Temperance…isn't that your little shrink?"

Booth and Temperance looked down, finally noticing an annoyed Sweets looking up at them. "Uh oh." Both of them muttered.

^&^&^&^

"Hey Ang…" Hodgins said, heading towards her door. "Listen, could I…" He paused when he noticed Angela wasn't listening to him, busy showing Martha around her office.

"I must say, these are some wonderful pieces, my dear." Martha said, admiring one of Angela's drawings that hung upon the wall. "They make up for the fact that your collection is sorely missing any of my son's works."

Angela looked over at her bookshelf, filled with an odd array of computer manuals, hardback art books and anything else one might expect from an eccentric artist. "You'll have to forgive me, but almost everything there is work related. Trust me…there are plenty of Derek Storm novels on my nightstand at home."

Martha nodded. "Of course, of course…though I couldn't happen to notice that you have a copy of Daniel Keyes' book up there."

Angela laughed at that. "Again, for a case. The one your son was involved in, remember." Angela selected the novel from the shelf. "Truth be told, I only got it to compare to his second book…didn't set out to read it for fun, but it is a real page turner…prefer the second book, however."

"Even if that one was not written by our dear Mr. Keyes."

Angela nodded, remembering the particulars of that case well, and how it had brought Beckett and Castle to work with Temperance and Booth. Daniel Keyes had been murdered by his mentor after it had been learned that Keyes had stolen his second novel from a fan fiction story written by a fan.

"What was the name of that young gentlemen again?" Martha asked.

"Kevin Allen." Angela said, putting the book back on the shelf. "Brennan has both books signed by him in her office…a thank you if you will. Not sure if she understood the gesture…"

Martha smirked. "Is that a bit of jealousy I detect in your voice?"

Angela laughed. "Maybe…I'd love a signed copy of a book…not just the author's name, but something personal, you know? Something special."

Martha nodded. "I'd suggest getting my son to give you one, but he would merely write something like, "Angela, nice breasts, love Richard."

Angela laughed even harder at that. "And it would be cheating. No fun if it signed by someone you know."

Hodgins grinned to himself, his question for Angela forgotten as he hurried off to plan.

^&^&^&^

Author's Notes: The Baby Beckett scene changed many times before writing. Originally she was going to dream she was turning invisible, then she was going to try and gain Castle's attention, going so far as to strip naked and do jumping jacks before Castle told her coldly he did see her but was ignoring her. Then she was going to shrink, until she was running around his shoe squeaking for him to notice her. Finally, she was going to start as an adult and slowly grow younger and younger until she was a baby and Castle, finally noticing her, thought she needed her diaper changed.

Baby Beckett's line of "Look what I can do!" is something I saw a real 2 year old do at work. She kept trying to get her father's attention, and when he did look, she said that and spun around one time. I just found it too cute and included it.

And yes, once again I will be making a cameo appearance…but how big or small it is I will not say.


	4. Chapter 4

Sweets stared at the Booth and Temperance, tapping his pen against his pad of paper, his eyes narrowed. The two of them sat on the couch, doing their best not to squirm under his uncharacteristically intense gaze.

"You didn't think I might need to know about this?" Sweets finally said.

"Know about what?" Booth said innocently.

Sweets sighed. "After the Keyes Case, I have remarked time and again that you and Dr. Brennan seem to have had a…shift…in your relationship."

"And we have disagreed." Temperance stated. "Neither of us is fighting, and we are operating-"

"I never said it was a bad shift, Dr. Brennan." Sweets stated. "It is clear that you two have come to…a line, one that you two subconsciously have agreed never to cross. The interaction between you two and the variables that are Det. Beckett and Mr. Castle affected you each." He leaned forward. "Don't you think it was important to inform me that you two were once again interacting with said variables?"

"I'm not sure I like being called a variable." Beckett stated from the couch just left of Temperance.

Castle smirked. "I think I've been once…involved a lot less clothing…"

Sweets shot him a glare.

"I don't get it Sweets…you said it yourself that the…shift…if there is one…wasn't bad. So what's the big deal?"

"I didn't say it was good either." Sweets stated. "We create lines for a reason. It allows us to grow and mature before we act on emotions or feelings that we would not otherwise be ready to deal with." He paused, it clear none of them were following. "Lets say that there is someone that parks too close to your car. Your first reaction is always to let it go, to assume it was merely a mistake. As they keep doing it, many people will set up a deadline of sorts: this person has 4 days to stop or show improvement or I am going to talk to them. We do this so that we can prepare ourselves for the conversation, so we are not allowing raw emotion to override us.

"Now, lets say a friend of yours keeps berating you to just deal with the guy and his car. Human nature has us cave to peer pressure more often than not, and will result in us reacting too soon. We do it all the time…if this grocery line takes another 3 minutes, I'll find another one, for example."

"So in this case…we are the drunken friend taunting Temperance and Booth?" Castle asked.

Sweets nodded. "In a way. Your presence could cause Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth to cross a line they are not ready for."

"There is no line." Booth said stubbornly.

"Or, isn't it possible we will help them finally cross a line they should have crossed long ago?" Beckett asked.

Sweets blinked. "I…hadn't thought of that."

"And I believe that means we are good." Booth said, jumping up and clapping his hands. "Come on Bones."

"I never said…"

"Thanks for your approval, Sweets." Temperance stated.

"But…"

Beckett turned to Booth. "Is he always like that?"

"Sometimes he gives homework."

"Ouch." Castle said as he shut the door.

Sweets looked at his empty office. "What…what just happened?"

^&^&^&^

"Hey…Mr. Booth!" Hodgins called out, waving at Hank. The old man glanced down at Alexis, who shrugged. The two of them made their way into the lab where Hodgins did all of his experiments, finding that another one fo those famous experiments was being set up.

Alexis looked at the set up. "This looks rally freaky." She stated, poking one of the hard foam dummies Hodgins had set up. There were 5 of them in total, with the makings of atleast 5 more scattered about the lab.

"All part of catching killers." Hodgins said, motioning for the two to come closer. They found that Clark was also there, looking rather annoyed. "Alright, so this one is going to be simple…no one is going to be blown up."

Hank frowned. "You've blown someone up?"

"Blown myself nearly up." Hodgins admitted. "The point is, this is all going to be done with is foam, rope and wires."

Alexis chucked. "Sound like a murder scene in one of my dad's books."

"Pretty close to it." Hodgins said, he paused, hurrying towards the door, grabbing a startled Cam. "Alright, so we have all the players."

"Dr. Hodgins…what is going on? I have a tox screen to go over."

Hodgins grinned. "And I need to narrow down our list of suspects."

"We don't have any suspects." Clark reminded him.

"WHen we do." Hodgins stated. He moved to one of the dummies. "Ok, so strangulation isn't like they show in the movies. It takes about 30 seconds to knock the person out, but a good 2 to 3 minutes to render them braindead. That's what ends up killing them." Hodgins motioned of the others to pick a dummy out. "Now, according to the eyewitnesses, they heard a gunshot, and it then took them some time to get into the theater, but no longer than 3 minutes. That means the victim wasn't able to break the hold the killer had on them, and that the pull against their throat blocked all passage of air." Hodgins grabbed a piece of rope. "I calculated, based on the bruising of the neck, how many pounds of pressure would have been applied by the killer."

Cam nodded, following him. "You want us to strangle these dummies, to see what body type could have pulled off the murder."

Alexis glanced at Hank. "Can Mr. Booth really do this…if it shows he could pull the correct amount…"

Hank smiled. "I have plenty of eyewitnesses that put me in the lobby. The Shrimp cleared me…but thanks for thinking of me." Alexis smiled back.

"Can we get on with this, I have bones that need cleaning." Clark complained.

Hodgins nodded. "Alright, grumpy gus." He switched on the reader for each dummy. "Now, I want each of you to pull the rope against the dummy's throat, where I marked it with tape. Has to be there..,any higher and we get an incorrect reading." Hodgins positioned himself. "Don't try and go for the quick kill. Remember, you need to hold on for 2 minutes." He paused. "But don't worry if you begin to loose your grip, that will actually help determine stamina. Everyone set?"

Alexis gave him a determined nod, a bit thrilled to be part of the investigation.

"Pull!" Hodgins shouted, the five of them all forcing the cord around their dummies' necks. At first, it each of them assumed that this would be a piece of cake. But s 40 seconds went by, and their arms began to tire, the easy experiment seemed to become a nightmare.

Already seeing Hank Booth stubbornly trying to hold on, Hodgins decided to get their minds on other matters. "So, I was wondering if any of you guys would like to help me out with something?"

"Is this something personal?" Clark asked.

"Yes."

"Then no." Clark stated.

"I heard Angela say she always wanted an autographed book…I want to get her one that is personal, no just the writer's name. Trouble is, I'm not sure how to go about it."

Cam considered this. "Any idea what books Angela likes?"

"She mentioned that she enjoyed "East Meets West"."

Alexis' eyes lit up. "She's a fan too!" She paused, making sure she kept a gripe on the dummy she was strangling. "I actually got to meet Kevin. He and my dad keep in touch…dad's kinda mentoring him." Alexis brow furrowed. "Come to think of it…last time he visited, Kevin said he was coming down the DC to do a private reading…doing it for charity or something like that."

"That's perfect!" Hodgins stated. "I'll go to the reading, tell him who I am…"

"Actually, it will be a problem." Alexis admitted. "If I remember correctly, Kevin is charging like, 10,000 a ticket. Big names only…he wants to get near a half a million to donate to Heart Disease or something like that."

Hank grimaced. "Ouch…10,000 bucks is a lot for a book."

"For some people, maybe." Hodgins said with a smirk. "Ok, times up." He moved to the computer, examining the findings. "And the winner is…Clark." He turned to the grad student. "Congrats, you are a killer."

Clark merely stared at him. "I have bones to clean."

"Little ray of sunshine, that one is." Hank muttered.


	5. Chapter 5

"I never wanted any of this."

Fredrick Townsend held his head in his hands, looking utterly devastated. He was meeting with the foursome in the conference room of the hotel the actors had been staying in, a plate of pastries untouched. Around fifty years old, Fredrick was a well known producer in theater circles, known for his love of the olden days and a burning distrust of new ideas. He believed in loyalty and the passing down of professions from father to son, something very uncommon in the current world of theater.

Castle's hand slowly reached for one of the untouched pastries, only for Beckett to smack his fingers.

"Ow!" He whimpered.

"Those aren't for you." Beckett said sternly.

"But he isn't…"

"No."

Booth ignored the two, giving Fredrick time to muster his emotions. "I know this is hard for you, but we have to ask these questions. First, why were you performing here, for the nursing home? It isn't a normal venue for you."

"For Mr. Dashel, Agent Booth." Fredrick said with a sigh. "Dashel is well known, my father directed him in several shows, speaking highly of him. Mr. Dashel had recently regained his health, and we wanted to do something special for him."

"What was wrong with him?" Beckett asked.

"Cancer of some sort, I am not for sure." Fredrick said. "To be honest, I only learned about this through Hugh."

"Lou?" Bones asked.

"Lou Davidson, our director." Fredrick said. "He was the one that learned all about Dashel."

"Mr. Townsend, can you think of any reason any of your cast or crew would want to kill Mr. Dashel?" Castle asked.

"No…I really can't." Fredrick said sadly. "This…this is just a dark day. It truly is."

"Mr. Townsend, do you know why a famous actor like Terrence Dashel would be living at that retirement home?" Castle asked. "I mean, if he was as famous as you claim him to be, you'd assume he would have the funds to live on his own."

"I honestly can't say…I would say money issues, but Terrence was always smart with his money. You'd have to ask his doctor, or perhaps

Booth nodded. "We'll be in touch."

Fredrick nodded, making his way out of the room.

"What do you think?" Beckett asked.

Booth shook his head. "Rubs me the wrong way, but it just might be him being overly dramatic."

Castle shook his head. "They are all like that…even the curtain puller thinks he belongs on the stage."

"That's just foolish." Temperance said. "He is already on the stage."

"…in front of the audience, Temperance." Castle corrected.

"Oh." Temperance considered this. "But don't they realize that their looks and lack of skills would make it impossible for them to be on stage."

"No, and we don't tell it to them face to face." Castle said with a smirk.

"So what now?" Temperance asked.

"We talk to Lou Davidson."

^&^&^&^

"Tox screen came back clean." Cam said, walking up to Hodgins' workstation. "And d his stomach contents only showed a bit of organic material we are trying to identify."

Hodgins nodded, moving slightly to center himself in front of his computer screen. "Figured as much. The cigars we found around the body only showed one slight abnormality."

"And that is?"

"Peanuts."

Cam blinked. "Ok, I was not expecting that."

"Apparently the wrapping contains peanut dust…it is suppose to give the cigars a better flavor. Not really popular, but those that like it swear by them. Guess our Theater Dandy liked them well enough."

"Theater Dandy?" Cam asked, moving to stand behind Hodgins.

"Uh…yeah…old nickname of his, found it during my research…" He frowned, looking at Cam. "Uh, could you not stand there?"

"Why not, I always stand here."

"Maybe it has always annoyed me and I simply wish you would stop doing it?" Hodgins ventured.

"Dr. Hodgins…" Cam said sternly, forcing him to reveal his computer screen. "E-bay?"

"I'm…bidding a ticket to a books signing." At her confused look, Hodgins continued. "Angela really wants a book personally signed by an author, and I know she has gotten into Kevin Allen's "East Meets West", so I want to get him to sign it. Problem is, all the tickets already sold out, so I am bidding on one. Luckily, the proceeds go to charity…"

"And you are bidding...while on the clock…"

"I can multitask." Hodgins pleaded.

"While we are trying to solve a murder."

"I can multitask on multitasks?"

"And if I recall, I had E-bay blocked."

"Along with Newsarama and Spoilerfix." Hodgins muttered. When Cam merely tapped her foot in annoyance, he looked up at her with his most pleading of eyes. "It's…it's for Angela, Dr. Saroyan." Hodgins finally said.

"…I do not want to ever see you on that site again, Dr. Hodgins."

"Thank you." Hodgins said, typing into a higher bid.

Cam merely shook her head.

^&^&^&^

"You have to understand, I never really knew Terrence Dashel."

Fredrick had left, and now occupying the chair he had been sitting in at FBI headquarters was Lou Davidson, the director of "Donovan's Daughters". He was around 40 years old, tall and good looking for the most part, though Temperance bit her tongue from pointing out all the physical defects his bones and skull held.

Beside him sat a teen, Drew Davidson, his son. Drew looked very much like his father, with the same ginger hair and long, equine face. The boy was fidgeting, glancing at Booth every once and a while.

"Then how did you know about Dashel's cancer?" Beckett asked. She and Temperance were seated at the main table, Booth prowling behind the man while Castle leaned against the door.

"My father." Lou finally stated. "My father lives at the same nursing home…dad can't take care of himself anymore. We don't have a lot…dad did theater, worked as a folly artist. Enough to live on but not enough to build up a good retirement nest egg. But the home works well enough." He paused. "My father and Terrence were friends…Terrence introduced my mother to my father, and we have always viewed him in the highest regard Terrible to think he is dead."

"Where were you when the shot was heard?"

Lou sighed, thinking. "I was…I was with one of the actors…God, this sounds so terrible but I can't remember."

Castle smiled slightly. "Actually better you don't." The others looked at him. "If you had a crystal clear memory, that would mean you had planned to have an alibi."

"Thank you, Castle." Beckett said tersely, "We'll check with the other actors, to see if we can confirm your whereabouts."

"If I may ask, why did you bring your son with you?" Temperance questioned.

Lou patted Drew on the shoulder. "Drew works for me, and I figured it would be easier if you talked to both of us."

Drew nodded. "I am the folly artist for the production…at least, for this one." He admitted.

Lou turned to Temperance. "Normally, folly artists would be seasoned professionals, but for this play, we only need to produce the sound of an avalanche and a couple gunshots. We do that with a tape recorder, plugged into the theater's in house speakers. Drew only has to press play."

"Not quite as class as grandpa, but I'm learning." Drew said with pride.

"Mr. Davidson, I have one last question." Booth stated. "Your father, did he mention anything else about Dashel…fights or anything of the sort."

"Not really…I know Mr. Dashel had some run ins with the nurses, but other than that I don't know much."

"You're free to go." Booth said finally. "But stay in town."

"Of course." Lou stated. "come on Drew."

Once the Davidsons were gone, the four investigators circled around the table. "What's our next plan of attack?" Castle asked.

"First, you stop telling the suspects what to say." Beckett snapped.

"Come on…that guy did not do it."

"You can't say that." Temperance argued.

"I have a feeling in my gut."

"Most likely that is gas building up in your large intestines."

Booth held up his hands. "What we do next is head over to the nursing home. There were more people there that were unaccounted for than with the theater trope…they are our prime suspects."

"Cool, road trip!" Castle said. "Give me a minute, I want to grab a snack before we go."

Beckett glanced at Booth as Castle rushed out the door. "We could ditch him." She smirked. "Be funny."

"…it would be, but no." Booth said.

"You'd never ditch me, right Booth?" Temperance asked. When Booth didn't answer, she quickly followed after him. "Right Booth? Booth!"

^&^&^&^

Author's Note: Review this chapter, and receive the commentary page for chapter one of "The Authors in the Crossover"


	6. Chapter 6

"You know, when its just me and Bones, we don't have to listen to the radio." Booth complained. Temperance sat in the passenger seat of Booth's car, moving away as Castle's arm snaked past her from the backseat to change the station yet again.

"But I need my daily fixing of celeb rumors and gossip…here we go." Castle said happily.

"…and the director promised to digitally remove Megan Fox and replace her with a cgi character. In further sleaze, Hollywood is still buzzing over the actions of writer Kevin Allen. The writer of "East Meets West" has drawn praise and contempt for his appearance on The Jay Leno show, where he spit in the face of the host before screaming "I'm with Coco"-"

Beckett switched the radio off. "Could we, I don't know, focus on the case?"

"Alright, alright…so, what do we know about this nursing home?" Castle asked, leaning towards Booth. "Some run down, illegal place that is only still running because the operators bribe some crooked official?"

Booth frowned, gripping the steering wheel. "What, no? My grandfather lived there!"

Temperance frowned. "Just because Hank lived there does not mean it is not run down or illegal."

"I think Booth means that he would never allow his grandfather to live in a place like that." Beckett stated.

"Thanks, Kate." Booth said.

Temperance considered this. "…in that case, you are right, the facility is not as Richard described."

"But, we know something was going on up there…I mean, if one of these old geezers killed Dashel."

"Hodgins proved it would have taken someone with the stamina of a young African American male to cause the damage to the throat Mr. Dashel suffered. An 'old geezer" as you term it, could not have performed such an action." She paused. "I suppose it is possible that one or two of the residents are not completely feeble, and thus could have the strength."

Booth frowned. "Wait, feeble? Are you calling Pops feeble?"

"Well, he is at the point in his life where he has lost much of the strength he had when he was in his prime. It is not to be unexpected…we all will become unable to benefit society when we reach the last 20 years of our lives."

"Whoa, back the train up!" Booth exclaimed. "You think old people don't benefit society?"

"That is rather cold." Beckett said from the backseat.

Temperance shook her head. "But it is true. Society can only stand when it is supported by the work of its citizens. Those of advanced age simply lack the strength and many times the mental capabilities to be able to perform the tasks needed to allow the society to grow." Temperance paused. "I am not saying we should not honor our elderly…they did they tasks, and their reward is that we allow them to live. In the animal kingdom, Hank would have been brought down by a lion years ago."

Booth just grit his teeth.

Castle leaned forward. "Could we piss the federal agent off when he isn't driving us?"

^&^&^&^

"I must say, after seeing this amazing device, it is little wonder how Temperance and sexy little secret agent man solve so many more murders than my Richard."

Martha, Alexis and Hank were gathered in Angela's office, watching one of the crime scene recreates Angela had done for a previous case. Martha was looking at it with a bemused smile, while Alexis and Hank were trying to touch the images, much as Booth had done the first time he had seen it.

"This…is amazing." Alexis whispered.

Hank shook his head. "I remember when VCRs were a pipedream…"

Angela grinned. "Stop it, you'll give me a big head, and I have no shirts that would go with a large forehead."

Martha nodded. "And who would want that." She paused for a moment. "Now, onto more precious matters…why isn't that hunky FBI man making Temperance scream his name every night?"

Angela sputtered in shock.

"Hey!" Hank shouted. "A child in the room!" He gestured towards Alexis.

"Tell me you have seen it, at the very least." Martha stated. "I mean, a blind monkey could tell those two are just itching to throw their clothing off and…"

"Again, child!" Hank shouted, Alexis just staring at her grandmother.

"Oh, let her hear…she probably has seen worse on the Internet."

Alexis choked slightly.

Angela finally found her tongue. "Uh…I mean yeah, I've noticed…I think those two are the only two that haven't noticed…"

Martha sighed. "Just like my Richard and Det. Beckett. They are spinning around each other and refuse to move a step closer." Martha grinned. "You know, you are a kindred spirit, my girl."

"Uh…I am?" Angela said, slightly nervously. She didn't like the crazed look that had suddenly entered the older woman's eyes.

"But of course. We are both talented, artistic people that enjoy taking life by the lapels and giving it a giant kiss, and we are both surrounded by people who refuse to do the same." She pointed a finger at the artist. "We should team up."

"We should?" Angela asked.

"But of course! If we work together, we can get all four of them together…well, as couples, not a four way…though those are enjoyable…"

"Grams!" Alexis shouted in horror. The last thing she wanted was to think about her father having sex.

"Do you ever think before you speak?" Hank demanded, annoyed.

"Of course not." Martha said with a smirk. "But tell me, Mr. Booth, don't you believe your grandson and Temperance are perfect for each other?"

"Well…yes…I do believe…"

"And Alexis, do you not see how much your father likes Det. Beckett."

Alexis shifted with unease.

Martha turned back to Angela. "If we work together, become aggressive, I believe we can push them together, and finally stop all the sexual tension that has built up in our world."

Angela nodded her head after a few moments. "Yeah…you might be right. I mean, I figured Brennan would finally get it through her head that Booth was the one, but she is so stubborn…maybe they do need a push."

"Excellent!" Martha wrapped an arm around her new partner in crime. "Now, I am thinking we start small, build up…"

Alexis and Hank shared a looked, both knowing this would not end well.

^&^&^&^

Karl Lowe, the director of the nursing home, looked at the assembled foursome before him and sighed. "I want to go on record and say I do not like this."

Beckett shook her head. "In all fairness, it doesn't matter to us if you like it or not. We are here to investigate a murder."

"And you do realize that preventing us from doing that will make you our prime suspect?" Booth commented.

Karl shook his head. He was, for lack of a better term, a fat thing, bald and smooth-faced. He looked like an overgrown baby, sitting there in his ill fitting shirt, wet watery eyes staring at each of them. Temperance had the urge to begin wiggling her fingers at him much as she had with baby Andy.

"I understand that, detective. And I of course want you to solve this case…Terrence Dashel deserves as much, as would any of our residents if they were killed." He paused. "But you must understand, these people…we try and keep stress to a minimum in order to prevent complications." He stared down at his desk. "We have people here with bad hearts and with memory troubles, to scratch the surface. The beeping of a microwave is enough to send them into cardiac arrest. I only ask you to please be discreet."

Castle snickered. "You don't think they are panicking already, what with a potential murderer living next door to them?"

Temperance leaned forward. "Could you please explain the conditions in which Mr. Dashel was existing under while inhabiting this place?"

"Huh?"

Booth shook his head. "Just…tell us a bit about Dashel."

Lowe frowned. "I don't know much…I run the building but it is my staff that works with the residents." He grabbed a file. "I do know that Terrence Dashel was a bit of a troublemaker…smoking cigars, getting into fights, bringing in banned substances…we ended up having to punish him."

"Punish…how?" Beckett asked.

"Nothing serious. For most residents, we allow them to have their own rooms. For the troublemakers, they loose privileges, and if they still act up, we remove them from their room and they have to share a space with another person under disciplinary action." Karl looked down at one of the forms. "Terrence, a year ago, was placed with Mr. Marcus Tines, a new arrival and also someone that enjoyed stirring up mischief." Karl paused. "If you want more information, I would suggest talking to Dr. Williams…he was Terrence's physician."

Booth nodded. "I think we will."


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: For the first time, I actually have to pause and cast an actor in a role. In the following chapter, we are introduced to Dr. James Williams. Dr. Williams, if this story were filmed as an episode, would be played by James Marsters.

Also, I have yet to figure out a good name for this universe...please keep sending ideas. As a placeholder, i will be calling it the ABCverse (As in Allen, Brennan, Castle, the three main authors in the universe)

^&^&^&^

"He had cigars?"

Booth raised an eyebrow at the question Dr. James Williams posed. There were many reactions he had expected when informing the dark-haired doctor of the death of one of his patients. Grief, rage, confusion…but a question about cigars?

Of course, Booth's annoyance might have stemmed from other…causes.

Like how Beckett and Temperance had instantly transformed from hardened murder investigators to giggly school girls at the sight of the doctor. Yes, they weren't giggling per say, but Booth could see it in their eyes, the way they were sitting there all professional and listening to his every word. His eyes narrowed when Temperance shifted slightly, it clear (to him at least) that she was shoving her breasts out, practically begging for Dr. Williams to give them a squeeze. And the way she was licking her chapped, dry lips every 5 to 10 minutes...

"You are very well built, you know that?"

Booth glared at Castle, who was almost as gooey-eyed as the women for the doc.

Dr. Williams laughed. "Thank you…these folks here give me quite a workout."

"Castle, if we could?" Beckett said, her tone serious but her body (again, to Booth) screaming "Take me, take me now doctor-man!". Booth grit his teeth in annoyance as Temperance let out a breathy sigh…or perhaps just took a breath, who could tell? "Why, exactly, is the fact he had cigars a problem?"

Dr. Williams sighed. "Terrence was recovering from cancer, and I had already reported him from having cigars several times already. Another mark against him…and, I don't want to guess what Mr. Lowe would have done."

"Dr. Williams, would you mind if we looked over Mr. Dashel's files?" Temperance asked, uncrossing her legs and practically (to Booth) spreading her legs wide and inviting Williams to come take a poke. "If you need us to get a warrant, I am sure Agent Booth could…uh…Booth? Why are you staring at my pelvic book?"

Booth's head snapped up, shaking himself out of his stupor. "Uh, what now?"

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Since both of the men here are idiots, do you mind if Dr. Brennan and I accompany you while they stay here and stare blankly at the wall?"

Dr. Williams placed his hands on his hips, offering an arm to each woman. "I would be pleased to escort you to the records room."

Booth shook his head as Temperance and Beckett followed Williams out of his office. He moved to go after them, only for Castle to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Stand up now and people will be staring at YOUR crotch."

Booth, embarrassed, sat down.

^&^&^&^

"Det. Beckett, since you are an officer of the law, I feel I can ask you this question: Why was Booth staring at my pelvic bone?" Temperance asked as the two waited for Williams to find the file.

Beckett frowned. "What does me being a detective have to do with that?"

"Because you and Booth are both in law enforcement, so I believe you may understand the reason why he would engage in such behavior." She shrugged. "I apologize if my question is too blunt…I have been trying to develop my sense of tact. I felt that you and I have grown close enough during this investigation and the last that I could ask you a personal question such as this."

Beckett's first response would normally have been to laugh at the idea that her and Temperance could be considered friends. However, seeing that the anthropologist was being sincere, she decided to show some restraint.

"I believe the reason lies more with Booth being a man than being a police officer."

Temperance blinked. "You think?"

Beckett frowned. "You must realize…"

"I know I am attractive. I have many times caught even close friends, such as Dr. Hodgins or even Richard, staring at my breasts and my covered genitals, most likely fantasizing about what I would appear like without clothing…"

"I don't think we are close enough yet for you to talk to me about this." Beckett said quickly.

Temperance continued. "But Booth would never look at me like that."

"Why not?" Beckett asked. "I know he isn't gay." At least she hoped he wasn't…that would ruin several of her naughty little fantasizes she had entertained involving him, Derek Storm and the lead singer for The Killers.

"No, it isn't that." Temperance stated. "Booth…doesn't see me that way. We are friends…at best he would see me as a little sister he must protect."

Beckett scoffed. "Temperance...trust me when I say this…if Booth thinks of you as a sister, than he is guilt of incest."

Temperance shook her head. "There is no-"

Beckett cut her off. "The question is…do you want him looking at you…that way."

Looking down, Temperance suddenly looked nothing like the confident doctor she was, and appeared more like a scared, fragile girl. "I…I think I woul-"

"Found it." Dr. Williams said, finally appearing from behind a row of cabinets. Temperance instantly put her cold mask of indifference back on, taking the folder from him with a snatch of her hand. "All his medical records. You will have to see Mr. Lowe for anything involving his activities in the building." Williams scratched his arm. "Sorry it took some long…had a devil of a time finding that folder."

"Does anyone have access to this room?" Beckett asked.

"No, not at all." Dr. Williams said. "I am very careful to never allow anyone to enter here without myself, and you are the first to join me in about 15 months."

"How do you know that?" Temperance asked, still looking at the file.

"Because that was the last time we had the police here." Dr. Williams stated. At their looks, he elaborated. "A resident here, a Mr. Bill Janacki, punched out an orderly. Janacki is an old guy but use to box…won a few minor title fights back in the day. Fractured the orderly's skull pretty good."

"That is…very impressive." Temperance stated. She paused. "The strength…not the act."

"Of course." Beckett stated. "And what was the result of the investigation?"

"The orderly ended up dropping the charges…between you and me, it was always believed that he was stealing from the patients…didn't want an investigation."

Temperance and Beckett said nothing as they went over the file.

^&^&^&^

"Ok, is Little Booth calm now? Or is he still at full alert?"

"Richard, don't make me shoot you." Booth snarled.

"Well…I walked into the wrong conversation." An old man said, entering the office. He was of average height, thin for the most part with a beak-like nose and long wispy white hair. He held out his hand politely to the two of them. "You the policemen investigating poor Terrence's murder?"

"Special Agent Seeley Booth." Booth said, shaking the man's hand. "And this is Richard Castle, he is consulting on the case."

The old man smiled. "Hugh Davidson."

"Lou Davidson's father?" Castle asked.

"That's correct. My boy told me you were coming." Hugh shook his head sadly. "Terrible thing to happen to Terrence…we use to work together, you know? Best of friends…called him the Theater Dandy, because of the way he could move about the stage…sure, we fought once and a while…he stole a part I was up for, I screwed up a folly cue to embarrass him…but it was all water under the bridge."

"Of course." Booth stated. "Mr. Davidson, do you mind if I ask you…is there anyone you can think of that might have wished to harm Mr. Dashel?"

Hugh ran his bony hand across his face. "Well, it isn't right for one to talk about such things, especially about the dead, but Terrence was a bit of a ladies man, you know? He enjoyed the company of quite a few ladies." He paused, snapping his fingers. "But the last pretty thing I saw him with was Miss Anabelle DuBious. She is a ripe plum, I'll tell you, but a bit of a screw job. But…I don't know if I could ever see her harmin' him any."

Booth nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Davidson."

Hugh nodded. "Not a problem." He turned as Dr. Williams returned. "Hello boss…thought you were a no show."

"Not a chance, Hugh." Williams stated. "Dr. Brennan, Det. Beckett."

Temperance and Beckett made their way back to the men, the foursome heading out of the office.

"What do you think?" Temperance asked.

"Think you should stop making kissy faces at him." Booth muttered.

"What?"

"I said I think we should call it a day and come back tomorrow…then I want to have a nice chat with Terrence's roommate."

Castle nodded. "And I for one want to get the image of Terrence and some old woman boning out of my brain." He shuddered.

Beckett rolled her eyes. "I work with 5 year olds."


	8. Chapter 8

Booth frowned as he leaned against his desk, going over a file on the case. "I don't trust that Doc…I think he is up to something."

Castle shook his head from where he stood, back against a wall and arms crossed. "Why would you say that…seems on the up and up to me."

Beckett was seated in a chair, filing her nails. "No one that smart could be a criminal."

"Or that tall." Castle stated.

"Or handsome."

"Or with that perfect of an ass."

Cam entered. "Have ta agree with them on that one, boss."

"You haven't even seen him…and why the hell are you using a southern accent?" Booth demanded.

Cam shrugged. "I always talk like this."

Booth blinked, turning to Hodgins. "And I am pretty sure your skin isn't always green."

Hodgins did not look up from his computer. "And you would be pretty wrong, Angelcakes."

Castle sighed. "Why are you so down on Dr. Williams anyway? He is a great guy." Castle suddenly snapped his fingers. "We should have him help with the case!"

Beckett grinned, her smile bright and bubbly. "That is a totally smart idea!"

"What, no!" Booth shouted.

"Aw, come on…he's so smart and sexy and strong and…"

"I get the idea, Cam." Booth said with a groan.

"And Dr. B likes him." Hodgins mentioned. Booth turned to him. "I mean…they looked pretty close when I saw them in the office next door…"

Booth stormed out of his office, turning a corner and not even bothering to knock.

There stood Temperance, dressed in a spaghetti strap shirt, tight jeans and cute little boots…

…sticking her tongue down the throat of a pale, bleach-blond, black duster wearing Dr. James Williams.

Williams looked up and leered at Booth.

"Oi, Peaches! I'm getting your girl again!" He proclaimed in a British accent.

^&^&^&^

"I'll kill you Spike!" Booth shouted.

Charlie, Booth's office neighbor, peered into his office. "You ok, Booth?"

"Uh…" Booth blinked, realizing he had fallen asleep. "Yeah…I'm good." He paused to make sure he had a reflection.

^&^&^&^

(The Jeffersonian)

Cam looked at her cellphone in confusion. "Does anyone know why Booth just called to see if I had a Southern accent?"

"Maybe his tumor is acting up again." Temperance offered as she studied Dashel's exposed ribs.

"Or maybe he is just losing it." Angela said.

"Or maybe we should all focus on the rotting corpse on the table." Clark muttered.

Cam made a slight face. "Alright, Dr. Edison, what have you found then, if you are so anxious to talk only about the case?"

Clark frowned, moving away from the body. "I have probed all the tissue and found no signs of any bullet wounds. Not even a grazing. Is it possible that the gun was fired by him?"

Cam shook her head. "Nope, not gun powder residue on either hand. If he was the shooter, he would have had to been wearing gloves."

"And I do not see the killer taking them off." Angela said

"Unless he liked them!" Temperance exclaimed with a grin.

The others looked at her.

"I was…trying to…create a theory, like Booth or Det. Beckett or Richard…it did not work out well, did it?"

"Nope." Angela stated.

"I will avoid such desires in the future." Temperance stated. "Has the FBI found the bullet yet?"

"Not in the seats or the floor. They are moving to the ceiling next." Cam stated, looking over some readouts. "anything else, Clark?"

"No…other than some old breaks, Mr. Dashel shows no trauma to any of his bones…whatever happened, he did not fight back."

"Well, he was an old man…" Angela stated.

"Dr. Brennan, what are your plans for the day, if you mind me asking?"

Temperance removed her gloves. "Booth plans for us to head to the nursing home once again to speak with the victim's roommate. I wanted to go now, but apparently Richard felt guilty for abandoning his family and has taken them, along with Det. Beckett and Hank to the diner for a late breakfast."

"Why Hank?" Angela asked.

"I believe Alexis has taken a shine to him and wishes to include him." Temperance stated. "Rather kind of her, to show such respect for a person so weak and less able to contribute anything of value."

The others just stared at her.

^&^&^&^

"So, Dr. Hodgins…its been a while since we last had a chat, huh?" Sweets said, leaning towards the Bug and Slime guy.

"And hasn't that been a wonderful time?" Hodgins said with a slight smile. "Hey, why ruin a good thing!"

Sweets frowned. "Oh, come on…we bonded over Avatar, that must have shown you I am a cool guy."

"That merely proved that you have good tastes when it comes to movies." Hodgins stated.

"What are you working on?" Sweets said, leaning over to examine his computer screen. "Ah…that."

Hodgins frowned, clicking away from Google Maps. "What do you mean, "Ah…that"?"

"Nothing, nothing…just find it interesting." Sweets rubbed his chin, his standard "I find you puzzling and I am studying you face" clearly on.

"Ok, let me have it." Hodgins stated.

"I don't know what you are…"

Hodgins pointed a finger at him. "You wearing that Shrink look you always wear, thinking how I am doing this to get Angela back…how I think that by spending a lot of money on something that I know she wants, I can prove to her how much I care for her and that she and I should get back together." He wheeled around, making Sweets back away. "And you are also thinking how I believe in my heart that this is all my fault, and that by giving her something, I can offer it as a silent apology for not fighting harder to bring her back to me." He scoffed. "Well, you are wrong Sweets, dead wrong."

"Uh…of course, totally wrong, got it." Sweets said as Hodgins walked away, muttering to himself. "Ok…what the hell was that?"

^&^&^&^

"_Loving you, is easy cause your beautiful…"_

"Mother, why are we listening to this station?" Castle asked as he slowly weaved his way through DC traffic. The SUV was filled to the brim, with Beckett riding shotgun and Alexis, Hank and Martha in the back, the teen separating the two cranky old people.

"I am in the mood for love." Martha said, glancing at her watch.

Hank rolled his eyes. "From what I can tell, you are always in that mood."

"OW!" Alexis shouted. "Someone kicked me!"

Martha smiled weakly. "I am sorry, I was aiming for the old fart."

Beckett turned in her seat. "Don't make us turn this car around."

"Yes mother." Hank muttered.

Martha grinned the DJ came back on, knowing that Part 1 of their plan was coming into play.

^&^&^&^

Temperance frowned, looking up from her computer. "Angela, why are you carrying that radio?"

"No reason…hey, lets listen to some tunes!" Angela said, much too chipper.

"I don't have…"

Angela shushed her.

^&^&^&^

"_And now, I have a special request. Seeley would like to tell his partner that he dreams of her, while Richard wants his muse to know he could not live without her."_

^&^&^&^

Temperance blinked. "Wow."

"I know, right?"

"What are the odds that there would be someone else named Seeley in Washington DC?"

^&^&^&^

"Wow." Beckett said.

"I know." Castle stated. "Who knew there was someone cornier than me!"

^&^&^&^

Cam looked up. "That sounded like Angela screaming…"

^&^&^&^

Castle struggled to regain control of the car. "Mother, stop screaming!"


	9. Chapter 9

"I'm glad he is dead!"

Booth and Beckett shared a look. They were all standing in Terrence Dashel's domicile at the nursing home, discussing the man with his former roommate, Marcus Tines. Marcus was a tall man, African American, with short curly hair and deep eyes that seemed to draw you in. His face was set in a slight scowl as he moved about the room, placing items in a box marked "Terrence's Crap"

Temperance and Castle stood off to one side, allowing their partners to deal with the obviously emotional man.

"And why is that, Mr. Tines?" Beckett asked.

"Because that idiot was only good for one thing: Trouble. Every time it looked like I was going to finally get him out of my room, he'd do something to book us both another month together." He wagged his finger at the two of them. "And his attitude…do you know what it is like to be around someone so different than you."

"Can't…say that I do…" Booth mumbled, glancing at Temperance.

"He was always prancing around, keeping weird hours and bragging about his days in the theater…" Marcus ripped down a framed photo of a younger Terrence and placed it in the box. "I like I care that he once did a scene with George Burns!"

"How could he do a scene with a fictional character?" Temperance whispered to Castle.

"That's C. Montgomery Burns." Castle answered.

Marcus shook his head. "We came from different backgrounds…he is a New York liberal, always feelin' his white guilt. I marched on Washington and was attacked by police officers." He narrowed his eyes as Beckett and Booth. "You gonna club me too?"

"No one is going to club anyone." Booth stated. "We just want to know a bit about Terrence. Did he have any enemies?"

Marcus began to toss some books into the box. "Other than me and the people that run this place? Yeah…every guy whose girl he was screwin'."

"Anyone in particular?" Castle asked.

"What's that fellow's name…Bill Janacki. Terrence was with his girl a few months back…Terrence told him they were just friends, but ol' Bill is an asshole, to be frank."

Temperance frowned. "Dr. Williams' assistant mentioned a Anabelle…"

"Ah yes, her…I…yeah, yeah, I did hear of them two sleepin' around." Marcus turned to them. "Now, can I get back to tossing this crap out?"

"By all means." Booth said, heading towards the door. "Thank you for your time."

Marcus shook his head as they left. "Stupid cops."

^&^&^&^

"Well, he's lying." Castle said the instant they were out of the door.

"You picked up on that too?" Beckett asked

Castle nodded. "Oh yeah."

Booth had to agree. "Yeah…too staged."

Temperance frowned. "How can you make such a determination based upon one conversation? What factual evidence do you have?"

"The fact that it was all rehearsed?" Booth asked. "No stammer, no pausing to think…he had already thought of everything he needed to say before we entered. That, and the fact he chose that moment to begin moving Terrence's items?"

"And there was his emotions." Beckett said.

"What emotions, he was angry." Temperance stated.

Beckett nodded. "And only angry. Emotions come in waves, not a steady stream of hate."

"And what about what he was packing away?" Castle asked. "Photos…books…but on the end table were Terrence's cologne, not even touched, and a script was by the night stand…I bet it was important to him. Marcus was throwing away big things, but nothing with emotional value."

"That is…all conjecture."

"I will tell you what is not conjecture." Booth said. "The lead he gave us. I want to see how honest he was being with us…lets go have a talk with Bill Janacki."

^&^&^&^

"You know, when you two were thinking up this plan, I didn't realize it would get us almost killed." Hank complained.

"Oh, calm down." Martha said as she paced up and down Angela's office, a drink in hand. "Richard only sideswiped one 18-wheeler."

Alexis shook her head. "Grams, maybe its time to…you know…admit defeat?"

"I never admit defeat, not when it comes to matters of the heart."

"Or the bottom of a vodka bottle." Hank stated.

Angela, however, was busy on her computer. "Don't worry…I have just the thing to set up phase 2."

"Phase…2?" Alexis whispered in fear.

"Oh God, they are going to kill us all." Hank stated, him and Alexis backing away as Angela and Martha, both looking at the computer screen, began to cackle like supervillains.

^&^&^&^

"I am glad he is dead!"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Castle whined.

Bill Janacki glared at the four as he sat in the rec center, focused on his game of checkers. He was, even in his old age, built like a tank, with arms that were bigger than even Booth's and a massive mustache that draped down his mouth and under his chin. "That little asshole tried to steal my girlfriend. Did the same to a lot of guys here!" He paused. "Damn it Gary, get the pawn off the board, we aren't playing chess!"

"Sir…" Beckett said calmly, "You do realize how that sounds, right…saying you are glad Terrence is dead?"

"Of course I do. But lucky for me I have an alibi, so I can say whatever I want, like how I dreamed of cutting the little ass' dick off and shoving it down his throat…damn it Gary, we're not playing Scrabble either!"

Temperance frowned. "This is not going as I expected."

Booth groaned. "I was waiting for this to happen, actually…surprised it took us this long to find a nut."

Beckett took control one again. "Mr. Janacki, the victim was dating your girlfriend, you had threatened him before…don't you think it would be a lot easier to confess."

Castle nodded. "Just admit it…you walked back into the theater to pick up your coat, left draped over the chair, when you catch Terrence kissing your girl. You snap, shoot and strange him, than leave his body."

"First off, my Arlene ain't dating him no more, even before he kicked the bucket. She is with me fully and forever. Second, I told you I have an alibi. I was in the men's room. Gary can back that up."

"B3…I sank your battleship!" Gary proclaimed. He threw his hands into the air. "Bingo!"

"…I seriously hope there were other people in the bathroom." Booth commented.

^&^&^&^

Hank shook his head as he and Alexis made their way through the Jeffersonian. "Do you ever get tired of being the most mature one in the room?"

"Always." Alexis said with a slight smile.

"So, what shall we do now, considering the Shrimp seems to have forgotten all about us."

Alexis was about to answer when her cellphone rang. "One sec." Holding up a finger to Hank, she took the call. "Hello? Oh! Hi…what…oh, dad must just have his phone off. Him and Det. Beckett are working on a case." Alexis nodded. "Uh huh…no, actually we are down in DC…what? No way…you're here too? Where are you at?" She grinned. "That's right next to our room! I can't believe you are in the same hotel! Yeah…yeah…I'd love to, but do you mind if I bring a friend?" She turned to Hank, mouthing 'dinner with a friend…he'll pay.' Hank gave her a thumbs up. "Great…see you later tonight!"

Hank smirked. "Boyfriend?"

"Hardly, just one of my dad's friends. He's cool though…and he'll pay for everything."

"Now you are speaking my language."

^&^&^&^

"Terrence is dead?"

Castle frowned, passing a five-dollar bill to Beckett. "I can't believe she didn't say it."

Anabella DuBious looked at Booth, fanning herself with a Chinese fan. Her fading blonde hair was swept up, her face heavily done up with makeup as she stared at them with wide, amazed eyes. She had a round face and a short, round little body that just made her look more like a doll that a person.

"I'm afraid so." Booth stated.

"Miss DuBious, you are not going to become enraged, are you? Because the last two people we talked to reacted in such a manner." Temperance stated.

"Should I?" Anabelle asked.

Beckett shook her head. "Not if you loved him."

"And…I did love him, didn't I?" Anabelle stated, staring off into space. "Terrence was such a nice…nice boy…"

"You two were dating?" Booth questioned.

"Of course…of course we are." Anabelle stated, as if she had just learned this fact for the first time. "We have been dating for some time now." She fanned herself. "But you say he is dead…a shame really, a shame."

"You were serious, weren't you?" Booth commented.

Anabelle stared at him for a moment before smiling. "I believe so, yes…think he was going to marry me soon enough…but now he is dead."

"How did you feel about him seeing other women…I assume, due to your old age, you would hold the out of date morals that require a man to remain faithful to you, even though he would be better served with a younger, fertile woman." Temperance asked.

Anabelle blinked. "I don't…I don't understand you…are you speaking English."

"No, she's not." Beckett stated. "Mrs. DuBious, was Terrence Dashel cheating on you?"

"Do you think he was?" She questioned softly.

"We don't know." Beckett admitted.

"But if he did…" Castle pressed, "You would have become mad."

Anabelle nodded. "I would say so. I would become terribly mad at my dear, loving Terrence."

"Mad enough to hurt him?" Booth asked.

"I would say so." Anabelle answered honestly.

"Mad enough…to kill him?" Beckett questioned.

"…I would say so." Anabelle answered.

The four looked at each other.

^&^&^&^

"I want to bring her in." Booth said after they left the room. "She might just be a brutally honest woman, but I don't want to take that risk."

"It seems wise, Booth." Temperance stated as her phone rang. "Brennan."

"Bren, it's Angela. Listen, I just got us all a table at this wonderful new restaurant for tonight, think you can make it?"

Temperance frowned. "I was planning on reviewing a History Channel documentary on the ritual mating rights of Amazon…"

"Come on sweetie…please?"

Temperance frowned. "I suppose I could…"

"Ask Booth and the others, right now!" Angela said quickly.

Temperance pulled the phone away. "Can we all make it to dinner tonight? Angela really wants to go."

Beckett shrugged. "I don't have plans."

Castle nodded. "Just got a text from Alexis saying she has plans already, so I am in."

Booth frowned. "Do I have to wear a tie?"

"I heard that." Angela said over the phone. "Tell him yes…really fancy place, so no Cocky belt buckles…and sweetie, maybe you could take Beckett back to your place, find her a dress to wear?"

"I don't know…"

"Can't back out now, you all said yes! 7 o'clock, I'll text you all the directions! Got to go, bye!"

CLINK

Temperance blinked. "Uh…apparently I am to invite Det. Beckett to my house to get her a dress."

Castle grinned. "Oh, I've had dreams that started like that."

^&^&^&^

"Did they buy it?" Martha asked.

Angela gave her a thumbs up.

^&^&^&^

Author's Note: Originally this was suppose to be 3 chapters worth of stuff, but I really wanted to get to the next chapter, so I said to heck with prolonging stuff!

And a new subplot! Who is Alexis' friend? And what role will he play in the events to come?


	10. Chapter 10

"You have got to be kidding me."

Temperance looked at the dress she had selected for Beckett from her closet. "What is the problem? It seems to be quite a lovely outfit and would compliment your assets quite well. By assets, of course, I mean your breasts and posterior…"

"I know what you mean." Beckett said. "But I would look like a…school teacher…a homely one at that." She tossed the hideous, full length dress on the bed.

Temperance frowned. "Why is it that everyone says that about this dress?" Shrugged, she began to dig through her closet. "I suppose I may have something from a few years back…" She pulled out another dress, a cream number that looked more like a priest's robes than a dress. "Would this do?" Beckett just stared in horror at the hideous thing. "I suppose not."

Beckett stood up, moving towards the closet. "There must be some…thing…" She trailed off as she saw all of the dresses Temperance had NOT shown her. "What…why…" She pulled out dress after dress, reach a designer label. "Why…why are you not showing me these?!?"

Temperance frowned. "Because I have examined your body and determined that, due to your height advantage that such a dress would be ill fitting, exposing too much cleavage."

"I am barely an inch taller than you!" Beckett nearly screamed. "And I WANT to expose cleavage, and you should too!"

Temperance was utterly confused. "Why is that?"

"Because it will drive those two apes…our partners…" she clarified, "…insane."

"I have found insanity…oh…OH!" Temperance said, finally understand. A small smirk formed on her lips. "Yes…I suppose that would be quite enjoyable."

Beckett wrapped her arm around Temperance. "Lets make a deal…tonight we are going to do everything we can to drive those two out of their heads and having them panting at the mere sight of us…what do you say…Temperance?"

Temperance considered this before nodded, a wicked look in her eyes. "I believe I would enjoy that…uh…uh…" She smiled weakly. "I don't know your first name."

^&^&^&^

"I can't believe you brought a suit." Booth said, shaking his head. He had forgone his normal work suit, choosing instead one of his newer suits, usually reserved for parties and, to be different, a black dress shirt under it. Richard was sporting a black suit as well, though he had selected a nice wine color shirt to wear under it.

They were waiting by Booth's car, the girls stating that they would be down at any moment, they just needed to make some final touches.

"I always bring a suit. You never know when you might need one."

"Whatever you say, Barney." Booth muttered.

Castle smirked. "That makes you Ted."

"…where the hell are th-"

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Beckett said.

She was wearing an absolutely stunning single strap red dress, a hole cut just below the breasts angling sharply down to just expose her navel. The slit on her right side revealed a long, shapely leg, which Castle spent plenty of time traveling up and down. Beckett had let her hair down, flowing curls cascading down her shoulders, framing her dark eyes and pouty red lips. She looked like Venus descended, a teasing smile making it clear that joining with these mortals was a mere game to her.

But if Beckett was a goddess, then Temperance was an angel. The vanilla color dress she wore would have appeared plain, had it not been for the thin lines of tiny gems, almost too small the see, that ran along the hem and up her sides. Cut so low that Booth for a moment thought of arresting her for indecent exposure, the dress cried out both purity and sultry at the same time. Booth felt as if he were in rags as he stared at her, unworthy to even gaze in her direction.

"How do we look?" Temperance asked.

"Wow." Booth muttered.

"Wow." Castle echoed.

Beckett and Temperance shared a look.

^&^&^&^

The Lost Garden was one of the best kept secrets in Washington DC. Hard to find unless you already knew the way, it was a place one went to when they wanted all the elegance of the finest of restaurants without the buzz of the paparazzi or the clamor of those wishing to pretend they belonged there.

Plus, the food was the die for.

The only sour part of the evening had been, upon arriving, that they were going to be alone for the evening. Hodgins had been unable to attend due to another commitment and, according to the waiter, Angela had called to inform them the lab was on lock down due to an experiment gone wrong.

^&^&^&^

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU MAKE TEAR GAS?!?!?!" Cam screamed, coughing up a storm.

Angela and Martha would have replied, except they were too busy rubbing their eyes in agony.

"Why God, why!" Clark screamed in agony.

Sweets stumbled about in a daze. "Why did you call me here only to do this?!?"

^&^&^&^

"Why thank you, Castle." Beckett said as Castle got her chair for her. The author smiled, letting his fingers ghost along her shoulder before he took his seat.

Temperance looked over at Booth and frowned. "Why did you not do that for me?" She asked, adjusting her chair.

Booth looked up at her, eyes alight with mischief. "Because Bones, the pulling out of a woman's chair is an antiquated ritual that serves no purpose in the modern world. In the past it served to show a woman that a man thought of her as something dainty and in need of a strong man to do even the simplest task. I think we can both agree that you do not require this, as you are quite strong and able, and thus me doing so would have been an insult."

Temperance blinked. "Oh…well, in that case, I thank you."

Castle glanced at Beckett. "I…uh…think you are strong too…you could probably bench a lot more than me…"

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Calm down, Castle. Lucky for you I like old fashion rituals."

The group fell into silence, taking time to admit the interior of the restaurant. A small indoor waterfall occupied one wall, while another housed breathtaking aerial photos of the Italian country side. The tables were a hard mahogany, darkened even further by the kiss of a hot flame just before they had been finished. Gentle opera music played, the kind that even a man like Booth could enjoy.

"What is he singing about?" Booth asked Temperance.

She smiled, pleased that for once Booth had decided not to make a joke and actually ask her to inform him about something. "He is singing of the joys of a simple life and how it is all that one needs."

The waiter arrived shortly after, presenting the four with menus and moving to let them decide.

"Excuse me, but I was wondering if you happened to have a bottle of red wine, from the southern region…at least 10 years in age?" Castle asked. At the waiter's slight nod, Castle waved his hand towards Beckett. "The lady would like a glass."

Beckett raised an eyebrow. "What is that all about?"

"I have noticed that, when the opportunity presents itself, you prefer a red wine and I know that the lower region of Italy produces a finer quality than the north."

Beckett smiled, accepting the glass presented to her. "Why…thank you Castle."

"Excuse me…" Temperance called out, stopping the waiter once more. "Is there any way that, in this dish…" She pointed to a particular appetizer, "We could replace the shrimp with chicken?"

The waiter nodded. "Of course. Is that what you would like to start with."

"No…it's what I was considering." Booth admitted, amazed Temperance had been able to pick up on his desires without him speaking a word.

The waiter nodded, leaving the four to go check on other tables.

^&^&^&^

Hodgins grinned as he stepped out of his car. He had ditched his lab coat for a nice blazer and dress pants, he was clean and no longer smelling of decaying flesh, and he had a song in his heart and a twinkle in his eye.

All because, in a few short minutes, he would be getting a one of a king gift for Angela…

"What the hell?"

The book store was dark and deserted, only one small light above the door still on, the owner locking up.

"Excuse me…what the hell is going on?" Hodgins demanded, utter confusion written all over his face.

"Uh…locking up the store, young man." The old woman said. "If you plan to rob me, please be mindful of my hip."

Hodgins shook his head. "No…no no no…you can't be closing up…there is a book signing tonight."

"Book signing? I'm sorry, honey, but you are a bit confused."

Hodgins shook his head. "No, I am not confused." He pulled out his ticket. "Kevin Allen is signing books here!"

"Oh, well that is true."

"Thank God."

"He signed them last night."

"…what?" Hodgins whispered.

The old woman pointed to the date on the tickets. "See…last night. Don't worry though, the money you donated will still get to the right place."

"I don't care about that, I care about getting a book signed."

The old woman grinned. "Mr. Allen signed a lot of extra books, you can buy one tomorrow…"

"I…I don't want a book with his name…I need him to write a special message…"

"I'm sorry, honey, but that isn't going to happen. Mr. Allen did all the signing last night…I'd be surprised if he were still in the city. Mentioned something about New York…"

Hodgins hung his head, walking dejectedly to his car.

^&^&^&^

Beckett laughed, long and hard.

"I can't believe your mother did that!" She managed to get out, panting. Castle shook his head in good humor. "And you were just standing there with the whip cream?"

Castle nodded, chuckling himself. "And a pencil sharpener."

Beckett threw her head back and laughed. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't laugh…"

"Its ok." Castle said, taking her hand in his. "Wouldn't have told the story if I didn't expect you to laugh."

Beside them, Booth had scooped up a small portion of his dessert and was holding it out, Temperance leaning over to sample a piece. His left hand, cupped to capture any loose drops of chocolate, brushed against her chin as he did so.

The night was magical, and all four of them found themselves more carefree than they had ever been before. It was a night of laughter, great food and wonderful company that they wished didn't have to end.

^&^&^&^

Morning came.

At the lab, Cam arrived grouchy after only 6 hours of sleep, ready to help supervise the final cleaning of the labs from last nights accident.

What Clark was up to is unknown, and he would be happy to know that.

Both Angela and Martha were still trying to get the smell of tear gas out of their hair.

Hodgins awoke from a fit-filled sleep, not ready to start the day.

In two separate locations, both Hank and Alexis greeted the day refreshed after the fun night they had shared with Alexis' friend.

In his hotel room, Kevin Allen had no idea the angst he had caused one Dr. Jack Hodgins as he flipped through a Fables graphic novel.

In another hotel room, Kate Beckett smiled as she threw on a robe and opened her door to find Richard Castle waiting for her with coffee.

Both Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth awoke to find they had fallen asleep in their evening wear.

And that they had fallen asleep in the same bed.

"Uh…good morning." Booth said quietly, looking down as a still sleepy Temperance, who was cuddled up to his side, face pressed against his suit jacket.

"Morning." Temperance said, eyes still closed.

Neither moved for a very long time.

^&^&^&^

Author's Note: Before you silly little perverts get any ideas, Booth and Bones did NOT have sex. They merely got drunk and cuddled. Of course, knowing those two, all sorts of awkwardness is about to begin.


	11. Chapter 11

"Ladies and Gentlemen, what is it about a hard boiled detective and a femme fatale that makes our hearts race?" Kevin Allen told the gathered crowd. They were all dressed in formal wear, gathered about the rooftop with baited breath. "I do not know…perhaps it is something deep within us, something primal. Whatever the reason, our guest of honor has learned to tap into that. The book "Night Terror", the 5th in the Blake Night series, inspired by the life of the FBI's Agent Booth, has captivated us all. Allow me to present its author and my dear friend…Alexis Castle!"

Alexis stepped out, flashing a million dollar smile. The 34 year old bombshell moved through the crowd, her stunning pale blue dress drawing lusty glances from all the men as she happily signed copies of her latest book…and paused to sign the breasts of some rather well endowed fans. She paused for pictures and hammed it up for the cameras, loving every minute of it.

"Parker!" She finally called out, pushing past some fans and giving a hug to her muse. Special Agent Parker Booth, the youngest Special Agent ever in the history of the FBI, returned the hug with a laugh. "So glad you could come."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world." The man said, wrapping an arm around her.

"Oh, I'd be careful, Alexis." Richard Castle called out, making his way towards his daughter. "You don't want to get the reporters getting the wrong ideas."

"Of course not, dad." Alexis said coyly, watching as he snagged another drink. "Quite a turn out."

"That it is…so nice of everyone to support this book after the 4th one failed so miserably."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "It sold 4 copies less than the 3rd."

"As I said, failure." Richard stated. He paused, eyes narrowing as he noticed a well dressed woman in the crowd. "Look, no wedding ring…don't stay up, daddy's going fishing!"

Castle made his way through the crowd, only to stop short when he saw his reflection in the mirror.

A reflection that looked exactly like his mother.

^&^&^&^

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Beckett glanced over at Castle as he snapped awake. "Bad dream?"

"The worst." Castle muttered. "Promise me if I every begin wearing dresses, you will shoot me."

"Well…ok, wake up sleepy, our partners are here and…wow." Beckett muttered, staring at Temperance.

"Well…Temperance…that's a…uh…interesting look." Castle murmured.

Temperance shifted uneasily. There are some things she had never experienced in her life: playing Operation without commenting on its stupidity, a really good cheese pizza, and waking up in a man's bed and realizing she had nothing to wear to a crime scene and no time to go back to her apartment.

Not wanting to go to the nursing home wearing her dress, she and Booth and scurried about, finding whatever they could. She had thought it would go over well…until about 5 seconds after Castle and Beckett saw her.

"I had no idea you were a fan of Pee Wee Hockey." Beckett stated, looking over the tiny hockey jersey Temperance was wearing, which most days belonged to one Parker Booth. It wasn't the best choice, but it did hide the suspenders she was wearing underneath to hold up Booths very baggy jeans…and the fact that she was wearing neither bra nor panties.

"I…can not get enough of it." Temperance said, lying through her teeth. "I love it when the centerfold scores a hatbox."

"…ok then." Beckett said, moving towards Anabelle's room. "Let's do this."

"See, I told you no one would notice." Temperance said with a smile.

Booth nodded. "Yeah…" He rolled his eyes as Castle gave him a smirk…and a 90 year old Chinese man gave him a thumbs up. "No one noticed, Bones."

Of course, Castle and Beckett were not ones to talk. They had found themselves dancing about each other, unable to truly get into any real groove the entire morning. Each was trying to be nice to the other, not realizing that it was their playful feuding that drew them together. As such, things had been awkward, to say the least.

"Excuse me." An older woman said from behind them. "May I ask you a question?'

"We didn't fornicate." Temperance stated. "I merely like Pee Wee Hockey."

"…that's nice, dearie. I was going to ask, however, if you were the ones investigating Terrence's murder."

Castle nodded. "That would be us."

The woman nodded. "My name is Arlene…my boyfriend told me you were asking everyone about Terrence."

Booth stuck out his hand. "It is nice to meet you, Arlene." He said politely. "Any information you can offer about Terrence's death would be greatly appreciated."

Arlene nodded. "Well, to start with, I hear rumor that you are thinking Anabelle did it. I can assure you she didn't, and she wasn't dating Terrence."

"And how do you know that?" Beckett asked.

"This way." Arlene motioned for them to follow her into the next room, where Anabelle was seated looking out the window. "Dearie, your sons are here." She pointed at Booth and Castle. "You remember Arlo and Thudbutt, right?"

Anabelle smiled pleasantly. "Why…yes I do." She moved, hugging Castle and Booth. "My dear boys, how mother loves you."

Arlene turned to Beckett "And look, President Doodlebug came to visit." She pointed to Temperance. "And the Princess of Canada."

Anabelle bowed to the startled New York cop. "Mister President…my lady…" She gave a slight bow.

The foursome moved away from Anabelle before turning towards Arlene, who was smiling slightly. "She…uh…well…" Booth said, rubbing the back of his head.

"She isn't all there." Arlene stated. "She believes anything you say to her."

"So when we asked her if she was dating Terrence…" Castle stated.

"…she thought we were telling her she had and believed us." Beckett finished with groan.

"Back to square one." Booth muttered in annoyance.

"Not quite." Arlene said gently, placing a hand on Booth's arm. "Come, sit with me and I will explain a little about Terrence."

The five moved to a small table set up in the game room that allowed them some privacy. Arlene sat down in front of them, appearing composed and ready for whatever the investigators might through at them. The four of them shifted to get comfortable, the change in their relationships, which was threatening to explode at any time, caused them ill ease.

"Relax…you may not believe this, but there was a time when I worked for the FBI." She chuckled. "I did filing, I will admit, but I still learned a few things, and that included being forthcoming with officers of the law." She leaned forward. "So allow me to let you in on the big secret that is Terrence Dashel: He did not date Anabelle, nor did he date me."

Temperance frowned. "It would seem that a guilty person would claim the same thing."

"A guilty person would tell the truth and admit to seeing them, knowing that lying would only harm them when the information came forth." Arlene took a deep breath. "Terrence was a friend, a dear one. He made me laugh and made me feel special. But that was all…I told Bill many times that Terrence and I were not together, but Bill is a stubborn jackass, stuck in the ways of his fathers before him and can't believe a man and a woman could be friends without knowing each other in Biblical terms."

Beckett licked her lips. "May I ask…why did so many people believe you and Terrence were together?"

"I imagine because he told them we were, and before I met Bill I allowed him to do so." Arlene commented.

Booth frowned. "And why is that?"

Arlene sighed. "I would ask Marcus."

^&^&^&^

Marcus sat on his bed, a small pillow clutched in his hands. "She told you?"

"No." Castle stated. "Arlene only stated that we should talk to you."

Marcus looked up at the investigators, smiling weakly. "This pillow…Terrence slept with it every night…" He held it to his nose. "Still smells like him…only way I can get to sleep."

It was Temperance that finally said it out loud. "You were lovers."

Marcus nodded softly, as if the very action caused him pain. "For many years. We met a long, long time ago…he was the Theater Dandy, and he didn't get that name for his looks. But oh, where those fine looks." Marcus smiled, eyes growing hazy. "Terrence was a quiet man, in private, a caring man. He just enjoyed being with someone he loved." His old, worn fingers caressed the pillow. "And he loved me most of all. He could have lived in a mansion, on some sandy white beach. But when my nieces and nephews had me put here after my heart attack, Terrence followed me here. We even arranged to get in trouble, just so we could be together." Marcus jaw worked slightly as he spoke. "He managed even to make this place home…and with him gone it is nothing."

"Why didn't you just admit you two were lovers?" Castle asked.

"Back then we would have been driven away…still some folks that don't want to see gay men and women happy." Marcus said, his words bitter but lacking venom, his spirit unable to dredge up the fire.

"And why not tell us, let us know the truth?" Booth questioned.

Marcus looked up at her. "You have to understand…when I was growing up, they would lynch a black man for merely staring at a white woman. Do you know what they would do if they found him staring with lust for a white man?" Marcus' hands trembled and Beckett reached out, holding one in her own for support. "Thank you." Marcus whispered, before continuing. "I lived for so long hiding who I was, trying to protect myself…it just became the same as breathing."

"What about Terrence?" Castle asked "Did he wish as well to deny your relationship."

"Hell no." Marcus said with a slight smile. "Terrence wanted to shout to the world the first time he saw me that he loved me. He always talked about us going out in the open, me no longer being a dirty secret. Just last week he was on me again, saying we soul go to France and get married, before we were too old and gray to do so." Marcus clutched the pillow like it was the greatest prize of all. "I talked him out of it. Every time I convinced him that I didn't want to ruin things, that I didn't want to hurt his legacy or that I wanted privacy. But it was all a lie…I was a coward, plain and simple. I was a coward, and I think he knew it. That's why he lied, that's why he never said a word and it killed him…every damn day it killed him." Marcus looked at each one of them in turn. "That is love…to die every day so someone you care for does not. He loved me…and it killed him." Marcus was crying now, his frail form shaking. "I don't…I don't know who killed Terrence, but I beg you to find them, you bring them to justice."

"We will." Booth stated.

"It's sad, really. Now, at long last, I want to shout to the world I love Terrence Dashel and he isn't here to hear it…and even if I do say it, no one will believe me."

Temperance, Castle, Booth and Beckett could only stand by as the man lay down and sobbed, a tiny green pillow held to his chin.

^&^&^&^

Evening came by, and the foursome found themselves in Castle's hotel room, pouring over everything from the case. Double and triple checking alibis proved that every lead they had was now dried up.

In short, they had nothing to show for days of work, and the killer was till out there.

Temperance, still dressed in the hockey jersey, flopped onto the bed, closing her eyes. "This is rather annoying…perhaps if I looked over his skeleton…"

"There is nothing those bones will tell us." Beckett said, annoyed.

Temperance frowned. "If it weren't for bones, we wouldn't solve half the murders we have!"

"The murders you and Booth solved. Castle and I have solved plenty without you."

Castle looked at her. "You think I help solve murders?"

"Shut up Castle."

"Shutting up now."

"Come on guys!" Booth cried out. "Let's not rip each others throats out!"

Temperance and Beckett glared at each other but calmed down, muttering weak apologizes.

"Well well well…look at all the gloomy Guses." Martha said, entering the room, a plastic cup in hand. "If I knew this was such a downer, I would have stayed at the bar instead of asking for a to-go glass."

Booth sighed. "Just problems with the case, Ms. Rodgers."

Martha nodded. "Then don't let me be a bug, I just needed to grab my purse. Angela is taking me clubbing!" Martha shook her fanny a bit. "Going to get jiggy with it, as the kids say."

"Mother, you can't go clubbing…you promised Alexis you'd watch movies with her tonight, remember?"

Martha scoffed. "You truly are out of the loop, Richard my dear. Alexis is visiting a friend."

"Friend, what friend?" Castle asked.

"I don't know, some man she went to dinner with last night."

Castle frowned. "Alexis went out with some punk kid last night?"

"Not a kid, a man. At least he sounded older on the phone."

"Castle…the vein in your forehead is throbbing." Beckett mentioned. "Wow…I've never seen it…"

"Where is she, mother?" Castle said, visions of Alexis wrapped around some 40 year old punk dancing through his head.

"Just down the hall, Room 415, but I wouldn't…"

Castle was already out the door, Temperance, Beckett and Booth following. Castle slammed his fist against the door. "ALEXIS! OPEN UP!" He turned to Beckett "Give me your gun!"

"What? No!"

"Booth?"

Before Booth could answer, Alexis opened the door, startled. "Dad? What's the…"

"Where is he?" Castle roared, storming into the room, searching. "Show yourself before I kill you!"

"Richard?"

Alexis, Castle, Beckett, Temperance and Booth all turn, staring at the man who stood in the doorway of the bathroom, his red dress shirt untucked and worn jeans hastily buckled, a roll of toilet paper in his left hand.

"Kevin?" Castle asked, anger gone in an instant.

Kevin Allen stared at the group. "Uh…if this is about me spitting on Leno, he deserved it."

^&^&^&^

Author's Note; And before any one asks…NO! I did not have Fictional Kevin sleep with Alexis! Fictional Kevin had just gotten done going to the bathroom…perverts.

On another note, I just bought my copy of Heat Wave…now I need to get famous, write a novel, and get Nathan to sign it as Castle and then sign my book for him.


	12. Chapter 12

"Bree Flax? That was the best you could come up with, Richard?" Kevin asked, flopping down on the bed. "Geez, I can't wait till "Keith Tallen" makes an appearance."

At Booth's questioning look, Temperance whispered, "Lee Wax is a true crime writer…Richard met her on a case, she rubbed him the wrong way, and he promised to include her in a book…or I suppose it was more likely a threat."

Kevin nodded, pulling out a copy of "Heat Wave". "Finally got around to reading it, Rich, and I have to admit, it's turning out pretty good. Seriously, when will I appear?"

"Maybe the next one, why are you here?" Richard asked, staring at the young man he had taken under his wing. Once Kevin had been offered to write the next West O'Reilly book, Castle had realized he would need a mentor of sorts. Temperance would never do…have the man writing about the merits of bone grafts and other nonsense. So it was up to Castle to help "The Kid" out.

Kevin shrugged. "I did a charity book signing, was going to head back to New York to visit you guys before I went back to Michigan, found out you were all down here and treated Alexis and Hank to dinner."

Booth frowned. "You took my grandfather to dinner?"

"Sure did, Shrimp." Kevin said. At Booth's glare, he backpedaled. "Ok, never will say that again. Point is, nothing happened Richard. Alexis is like a little sister to me."

Alexis nodded. "Its true dad! I was just helping Kevin plan out the next book…what was it called?"

"'Westside Girls.' All about West and Thomas and the lovely little Taya Osaka investigating the murders of prostitutes…very Jack the Ripper." He shrugged. "Granted, my mind is more on this Biblical Western…"

Beckett shook her head. "Sorry for busting in on you and having Castle act like an even bigger idiot, but we have a murder to solve."

"I thought you had it all figured out." Alexis questioned.

"Turns out…not so much." Castle admitted.

"Our suspect suffers from delusions brought on by brain trauma. She believes any statement told to her." Temperance admitted.

"Well…that…sucks?" Alexis offered.

"That was my word for that." Booth muttered, sitting down in a chair.

Alexis frowned. "You must have some lead…"

"Nope, not one." Castle said. "Lets get drunk to celebrate."

"Why?" Temperance asked.

"Honestly, I don't know, I just wanted to get drunk." Castle admitted, moving towards the minibar.

"HEY!" Kevin shouted, leaping off the bed. "That's my minibar!"

Alexis turned away from the two men as they fought over the $20 tin of nuts. "Not a single clue?"

Beckett shook her head. "The only thing we know is that Terrence was a gay retired actor that liked to smoke cigars with peanut dust in them-"

"Peanut dust?" Kevin said, letting go of the tin, Castle stumbling backwards and falling to the ground with a thud. "So the killer pulled a Da Vinci Code."

"Huh?" Everyone asked.

Kevin looked at them. "Da Vinci Code…Dan Brown…God, do you people ever read?"

"We're a little busy solving murders." Temperance stated calmly.

"Or not solving them and stealing form my minibar!" Kevin shouted, taking back the nut tin. Taking a breath, he turned back to the group. "The Da Vinci Code," he stated calmly, "featured the death of one character by, spoiler alert, having him drink vodka spiked with peanut dust, which he was allergic too."

Booth and Beckett slowly turned to each other. "Was he allergic?" The both asked. "Why ask me, I thought…" Their eyes widened as the implications sank in.

"Wait…there is no way that the smoke alone could cause poisoning…right?" Castle asked.

Temperance looked down, deep in thought. "Cam found the butt of the cigar in Terrence's stomach…he had bitten it off and chewed it. That…would have been another." She turned to Booth. "And if he died by poisoning…that changes everything."

Booth nodded. "We need to go to the lab, right now."

Kevin sat back down on his bed, grabbing the remote. "Glad to be of service, mention me at the press conference."

Beckett shook her head. "No no no…you came up with this idea, you might figure out other things."

"Uh…huh?"

"She's right." Booth stated. "Congrats kid, you're officially part of the team."

Kevin stared at him…before a huge grin lit up his face. "Aaaawwww yeaaaaah!" He leapt up, snatching a long brown barn coat that was draped of a chair, letting it swirl about him as he threw it on. He hurried to catch up with Castle, the other author slapping him on the back. "You gonna say it, or should I?"

Castle grinned. "I will…this…is going to be…wait for it…legendary!"

Alexis shook her head, glaring at Martha. "And you said it was ok to let him watch "How I Met Your Mother"."

"I thought he was old enough to handle it."

Kevin snapped his fingers as he passed them. "Hey…suit up."

Temperance frowned. "But…we don't have time to get them suits."

^&^&^&^

Clark leaned over the body of Terrence, examining the bones carefully. "Dr. Brennan, I think I found something.

Temperance moved over, running her finger along one of the spinal bones. "yes…yes this could be it."

"You have something?" Beckett asked, Castle and Booth stepping forward.

"Yes…we'll need Angela to run a scenario…where is Angela?"

Cam frowned. "She went to the bathroom…she said some nutjob actually tried to bite her on the way in here."

Clark rolled his eyes. "That has nothing to do with the case, and as such, I do not care."

"Way to show some kindness, Clark." Booth commented.

Temperance was about to say something when she heard Angela return. "Angela we need you to-"

Temperance's statement died on her lips.

It was Angela, alright. Angela…with blood dripping from her ears, bile dribbling down her chin, shirt covered in raw bloody flesh, and her eyes bloodshot and crazed.

"Angela?" Temperance whispered. Angela tilted her head, snarling before she leapt at Clark, ripping his throat open with her teeth.

"What the hell!?!" Castle shouted, leaping away, Booth and Beckett taking out their guns.

"Angela…Angela…" Booth said, hand shaking. "Now…calm down…"

Another snarl echoed to his right as Hodgins, eyes also red and vomit leaking from his mouth, came racing after them. The four investigators did the only thing they could…they ran. Hodgins and Angela paused only a moment to take a bit from the now dead Clark before chasing after the four, snarling and snapping at their friends.

Beckett hit the first step when she saw Cam wheel around a corner, her face a twisted patchwork of scars and boils, blood staining her clothing. She let out an almost primal roar as she joined in the hunt.

"My office, quick!" Temperance shouted. The foursome just managed to slide in and close the door as their friends made it up the steps. Angela, Hodgins and Cam began to pound on the door. "What is going on?" Temperance screamed.

"Zombies…their freaking zombies!" Booth shouted. "Bones!" he tossed her an extra gun while Castle picked up a femur Temperance had laying on her desk and held it like a club. "They aren't our friends anymore…you have to shoot them."

"But-"

"No buts!" Beckett shouted as a zombified Hank and Martha joined Angela, Hodgins and Cam.

"Dad!"

Castle's eyes widened. "Alexis…" The zombies turned, Angela and Hank going for the new prey downstairs while the others continued to try and take out the door. Beckett grabbed Castle, holding him back. "No! No!"

"Dad!" Alexis screamed.

"Alexis!"

BANG! BANG!

The other zombies turned at the sounds of the gunshots. There, standing at the top of the stairs, wearing a tight leather coat, cowboy boots, and a tarp cowboy hat, with Alexis huddled behind him, stood Kevin.

"Hey Hodgins…" Kevin called out, pulling out a long hunting knife. "You got a pretty mouth, boy!" He rushed Hodgins, slamming the knife through his forehead, before whipping around and firing on Cam and Martha, finishing them with a shot to the head. "Now then…zombies have taken over the world, I am the only one that can save you, and women over 21 are required to only wear bras and panties." Temperance and Beckett shrugged and began to undress. "Lets get in my ride." Whistling, Kevin grinned as Optimus Prime burst through the Jeffersonian.

"Alright, lets transform, roll out, and kick some zombie ass!" Prime shouted. "And Kevin, Obi Wan wanted you to have this." The Autobot leader tossed Kevin a lightsaber.

"This…is…awesome!"

^&^&^&^

"So awesome…" Kevin murmured, fast asleep in a chair, a happily smile on his face.

"Kevin, wake up." Beckett said, shaking him out of his stupor.

"Huh?" He blinked. "Oh…I was having a wonderful dream-"

"No one cares." Clark stated.

Kevin narrowed his eyes. "Then I won't tell you about it…but it had Optimus Prime." He stood up. "And I am glad Angela ate you."

"What?" Clark said, confused.

Temperance smiled. "Movie or G1? I dream about both of them…helping…me…" She trailed off at the looks she was getting. "Uh…femurs and phalanges?"

Kevin shook his head, leaving to go explore.

Cam shook her head, scoffing in disbelief. "I…can't believe I missed this." It was all there, right in the file. Terrence Dashel was deathly allergic to peanuts…the smoke alone from a cigar tainted with them would have been enough to do serious harm. But the fact he had swallowed the cigar butt…he had doomed himself before it even hit his stomach.

"I know…I can't believe you missed it either." Temperance said, inspecting the body. Cam, for one moment, made a motion as if she were going to strangle the anthropologist, quickly moving to pretend she was straightening her hair when Brennan looked up. "Have you reexamed the flesh, to see if there are any other signs related to the poisoning."

"Yes, and we did find something." Cam pulled up an image of the inside of Terrence's throat. "Right here, just below the strangulation point, there was slight acid burns. I assumed it was from the struggle, but I now believe Terrence was trying to vomit up the peanut dust."

"But he was already going to die…why would that matter?" Beckett asked.

"Because if you found vomit on the crime scene you would question why." Castle stated.

"So that is why he vomited?" Booth asked.

"No, that is why the killer stopped him." Castle said with a smirk.

Beckett nodded. "Exactly." She moved towards Booth. "The killer gives Terrence a cigar, knowing he loves them and isn't allowed to smoke them."

Booth pretended to choke. "Terrence feels the effects in moments, and begins to gag."

"The killer, fearing that he will be found out if Terrence vomits out the poison, strangles him." Beckett pretended to strangle Booth. "And holds on just long enough for Terrence to pass out." Booth crumpled to the ground.

"Except there was a gunshot." Cam reminded them.

"Oh…yeah." Beckett stated.

Castle frowned. "You said you never found the bullet, right?" Cam nodded. "Maybe there wasn't a shooting, just like there wasn't a strangling. It just appeared that way."

"People heard a shot." Temperance reminded him.

"Heard…not saw." He said. "I know that stupid play…there is a gunshot in it during the second to last act. They have a prop gun on stage, but to get the ringing effect..."

"They use a folly artist." Booth finished. "It was Drew Davidson, the folly artist!"

"Are you sure?" Cam questioned.

Beckett spoke before Booth could. "The markings on his next…see if they match a cord that is spiraled, like an old phone cord…Drew has a sound effect box with that type of cord running from it."

Temperance frowned. "But it doesn't make sense, why kill Terrence?"

"Yeah, what's the motive?" Castle questioned.

"We can ask him in 40 minutes." Booth said, pulling out his phone. "I'm having our little murderer brought in right now!"

^&^&^&^

Author's Note: …Me dressed as Tallahassee, with a lightsaber, hanging out with Optimus and scantily clad Temperance and Beckett…fictional Kevin has the strangest, most wonderful dreams…

We are nearing the end, folks. 2 more chapters to go, and if you think you have it all figured out and know how it ends, well…you didn't see Zombie Angela coming either.

Finally, I thought I would make this offer. If any fan would like to go back through "The Authors in the Crossover" or this story and do beta work for already published chapters, I would be willing to give it a try. Has worked out nicely in the past, and would be willing to let anyone who wants to give it a try. Still won't do betaing before hand (I prefer to publish them raw, get them out there instead of relying on a beta to finish it first…had a bad experience with waiting a long time for a chapter to get betaed before I could post it and won't do that again).


	13. Chapter 13

"Well…this is boring as hell." Kevin commented, eating a donut. He was staying away from the dead body, still having not gotten his, as he called it, "Dead Body Legs". It was early morning, around 6 am, and the lab was for the most part empty. Angela was in her lab, use to going on only a few hours of sleep, while Alexis slept in Brennan's office. Martha was curled up in some corner, while Clark had gone off to get some rest at home. Cam had grabbed an hour of sleep and now had joined Kevin (who had fallen asleep the moment he had arrived at the lab and only awoke a few hours later to bicker with Clark and then go grab some shut eye) and Hank.

'God Bless Hank Booth.' Cam thought, taking a bite of her bear claw. He had arrived with donuts, a treat for the gang.

"Well, you could have gone with the Shrimp." Hank stated.

"No thanks." Kevin stated. "I went to college in Flint…I have dealt with the criminal element enough, thank you very much." He swallowed his 3rd glazed donut and Cam wondered how the hell such a fit man could eat so much garbage.

Hodgins walked up to them, eyes alight with glee. "I call the sprinkles!" he stated, grabbing a chocolate donut. "Hey, Kevin…listen, I have a favor to ask you."

"Shoot, Dr. Hodgins." Kevin said, leaning back in his chair.

"Angela…you've met Angela, right?" Kevin nodded. "Well, she would love to have a signed copy of your book, and I thought…"

Kevin took the book from Hodgins' grasp. "Say no more." He began to sign. "But…" he smirked. "You need to do something for me."

"And that is?"

"We need to find some way to kill the boredom in this place, at least until Brennan and Richard get back." He paused, running a hand along his bearded chin. "You know…this is the weekend…you really don't need to be working today…" He smirked. "Think you could rig up the PA system for me?"

^&^&^&^

"This is insane!" Lou shouted. He was pacing the FBI interrogation room, glaring at Beckett and Booth. Drew sat in the chair, hands cuffed together and looking to be in shock. "My son did not kill Terrence!"

Beckett shook her head. "We didn't expect it either, Mr. Davidson, but when you look his way, its amazing how the facts just begin to line up oh so perfectly in his direction." She leaned forward. "Let's begin with your alibi…or lack thereof."

"We asked around. You told us you were with the stage hands during intermission." Castle commented from where he leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

"And I was." Drew pleaded. "I was with them the entire time."

"Oh?" Booth said. "Then why is it that each one of them remembers you leaving 7 minutes before Terrence was killed."

"And no one remembers seeing you till 15 minutes after Terrence was found that." Temperance stated.

"That's a half an hour you can't account for." Beckett added.

"More like 22." Temperance corrected, earning her a dirty look.

"I was in the back, checking over my sound box." Drew stated, eyes wide, panicked. "I was making sure that it was working properly for the next act."

"Oh yes, the sound box." Booth said. "Nearly forgot about that." He produced it from under his chair, letting it fall to the table with a heavy thud, causing the boy to jump slightly. "Funny story about that…"

"We looked it over." Temperance told him. "The cord matches markings found on Terrence's throat."

"And the gunshot recorded on it would have fooled anyone listening into thinking there had been a shooting."

"That proves nothing." Lou said in anger. "You are grasping at straws."

"Really…because I think my little part in show and tell will change that." She pulled out a bag containing cigars that were similar to the one that had killed Terrence. "Do you know what these are?" She asked, though Drew's trembling hands told her the truth. "Let me answer for you, since you seem to have lost your voice. They are cigars laced with peanut dust…the dust that caused an allergic reaction that killed Terrence." Beckett smiled, ever so slightly. "Do you want to tell your father where we found them?"

Drew shifted, uneasily.

"Agents found them in his backpack at the theater." Castle stated. "Oh, and it gets better…we also found the order form addressed to a "Mr. Davidson". Hmm…I wonder why you would have something like that."

"This…this isn't…this…" Drew whispered.

"The only thing we don't know is why." Booth stated. "Why kill him?"

Drew looked at them, tears in his eyes. "I…I didn't mean too…I didn't do this…I…I don't understand…"

"That's enough, Drew." Lou said, his tone forcing his son to remain silent. "I'd like our lawyer, now."

^&^&^&^

"Why do you think he did it?" Temperance asked as the four of them walked up the steps towards the Jeffersonian's main door. "What was the motive?"

"I'm not sure, Bones, but the lawyers will figure it out."

"Just seems strange, not knowing why he did it." Castle commented.

Beckett shrugged. "Welcome to real life, Castle. You don't get a chapter where the villain reveals why they tied the woman to the railroad tracks. You just find them standing over the bloody remains."

Temperance frowned. "I don't remember any historical references too…"

"I KNOW YOU WANT POP! YOU WANT DANCE! YOU WANT ROCK-&-ROLL!"

The four of them felt as if they had been hit by a physical attack, the music was so loud. Pushing inside, they stared at the lab in shock.

Wires hung from the now activated security lights, their beams whirling with no sirens, the bulbs replaced with blacklights. The lights had been dimmed down and the emergency storm shutters on the overhead windows were closed, making it appear to be nighttime within the lab. Speakers had been pulled from every computer and rigged up to all be feeding from one stereo system, which was currently blaring DJ Earworm's 2009 Club Remix "Blame it on the Pop". Temperance's jaw hung wide open as she watched several of her co-workers mix drinks from a cart containing all the hidden booze the Jeffersonian offered. Several others were reaching into paint cans, coating their skin and hair with glowing paint.

"Hey, you're back!" Sweets called out, his face painted up much as it had been when he had gone undercover with Temperance to the Speed Metal concert. Of course, now he was wearing a suit, a drink in hand and a grin on his face. "This is pretty bitchin', huh!" He shouted over the music.

"What the hell have you done to my lab?" Temperance practically screeched.

"This is breaking so many laws." Booth muttered.

Beckett shook her head.

"I like it!" Castle said, moving to the music and making his way to the paint. He paused, grinning when he saw a woman moving to the music, her face done up like The Joker and her hair stripped with the paint. "Wild party, huh?" He said, giving her his best sexy smile.

The woman turned, smiling. "Dad!"

Castle's eyes widened in horror. "ALEXIS?!" He shuddered in disgust. "What…what…why are you…you don't have fun!"

Alexis stared at him. "Of course I have fun…oh, I'll talk to you later, my turn to dance!" She pushed her way through the crowd of scientists, moving to the center circle where her and, of all people, Hank Booth, began to react moves from Dirty Dancing.

"How did this all happen?" Booth called out to Cam, who had a drink in one hand and a paint brush in the other, which she had been using to draw a star on Dr. Howard's face. The fact that Dr. Howard was nearly 70 and moving like he was 20 did nothing to lessen Booth's unease.

"Blame the kid!" Cam called out, obviously drunk even though it was barely 2 in the afternoon. She moved over to Booth, kissing him on the cheek, leaving a glowing lip print on his cheek. "Him and Hodgins did this!"

Beckett and Booth looked past Temperance, who was trying to stop the party and was failing, to find Kevin and Hodgins dancing on the examining platform. Hodgins, his beard glowing brightly, was spinning Angela around, while Kevin and Martha bobbed together.

"Get off of there, that's-WHOA!" Temperance cried out when Kevin grabbed her, pulling her onto the platform and dancing with her. Temperance moved to shove him when Angela, drunk out of her mind, pulled her around and gave her a long, long kiss.

"Other than the fact I hit on my daughter, this is the greatest party ever." Castle said.

"You did what?" Beckett asked.

"Hmmm?" Castle said, deciding to simply take a dip in a river called Denial.

Booth just stared, eye glazed over.

Kevin broke away from Martha and moved down to them, Temperance at his heels. "Man, you people sure do like to drink."

"Been into the spirits yourself?" Beckett asked.

"Don't drink, and normally don't like these type of parties, but Hank loaded me up on sugar."

Temperance spun him around and jabbed him in the chest, her face, smeared with Angela's glowing lipstick, a mask of rage. "If anything is damaged…"

Kevin held up his hands. "Hodgins swore he could put everything back, and Cam made sure that we did nothing that would cause any harm."

Booth, finally out of his stupor, pulled Temperance away from Kevin. "Leave the kid alone." He turned to said "kid". "Is her office ok or…"

"We didn't mess with any of the offices." Kevin answered. "I can't say anyone hasn't entered them…"

Temperance, enraged at the thought of people fornicating on her desk, hurried up the stairs, Beckett and Castle on her heels, Booth dragging Kevin along with them. Cam, seeing that he might need some help, left the party and hurried after them.

Cam found Temperance moving about the room, inspecting everything, while Beckett and Castle watched on, amused, and Kevin was held tight by Booth, looking over his shoulder at the man nervously.

"You know, as anyone told you that your eyes are rather beautiful?" Kevin asked weakly. Booth glared at him. "Shutting up now."

Cam looked over the group. "Ok, so things got a little carried away…but we were just blowing off steam. Case solved, big party…hooray?"

Castle shook his head. "I still don't like it. Where is the motive? Where is the twist? All we have is some random person we met that just happened to do it? Makes no sense! If this were a story and I were reading it, I would write the author and tell him how bad it is!"

"No need to say things we can't take back." Kevin commented rather glumly.

"Again, Castle, this isn't a novel. Not everything has to wrap up nicely in a neat little package. In life, there are no such things as plot holes…just stuff we can never understand."

"Like how you could throw a party in my lab!" Temperance yelled, Kevin shrinking back.

"Calm yourself, Dr. Brennan. I okayed it, so you can take your frustration out on me."

Temperance thought this over. "I find it much more gratifying to take it out on him."

"Glad to be of serve." Kevin muttered.

"But there are so many things that don't make sense!" Castle exclaimed. "Like…uh…why do it?"

"You already asked that and we said we don't know. The lawyers will figure it out though." Booth stated. "Could be anything…Drew found out Terrence was gay and is homophobic. Terrence caused him to lose some money. Old family grudge…"

"Family grudge?" Cam questioned.

"Yeah, Lou mentioned that Terrence stole a role from Hugh."

"That's right." Temperance stated. "That's why Hugh ended up a folly artist."

Castle shook his head. "And how did he know that Terrence was allergic to peanuts?"

"Maybe he got the file from his grandfather." Beckett offered. "Hugh Davidson does volunteer for Dr. Williams."

Castle ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek. "And what about the cigar thing…why deliver the poison through cigars."

Temperance shook her head. "Hugh again…he would have seen on his files that Terrence wasn't supposed to have them, and he would have known about Terrence trying to smuggle them in…"

"Geez, sounds like this Hugh guy is a better suspect that his grandson." Cam muttered.

Everyone but Kevin, who was still trying to think of a way to avoid Temperance's wrath, stared at her.

"What?"

"Hugh." Booth whispered. "He would have had the means. He knew about the allergy and how to deliver it."

"Terrence cost him a starring role." Beckett added. "There was bad blood there, even if the family didn't realize it."

Castle frowned. "Was Hugh one of the people unaccounted for when the murder took place?" At Booth and Beckett's nods, the author sat down on the couch next to Kevin. "Oh my God…"

"Wait." Cam stated. "Are you forgetting about the strangling? Hodgins proved that the killer would have had to have been young to kill Terrence…your grandfather was barely able to make it, Booth, and he and Hugh must have around the same strength level."

Booth nodded. "That is true."

"But it wasn't strangulation." Temperance reminded them. "Terrence died by poisoning." She began to pace, the party happening in the lab totally forgotten. "If it were a poisoning, the killer would need to hold the cord around Terrence's throat for only…20 to 30 seconds. Hank could easily manage that and still produce the bruising we saw on the neck."

"that's enough for me." Booth said, standing up. "Come on, we are going to that nursing home." He pointed at Kevin. "And when we get back, this party better be over."

Kevin looked over at Cam after Booth left. "He said it had to be done by the time he got back…how long do these things take?"

"They could be hours." Cam said, smiling slightly. They waited till they were sure Temperance and the gang were gone before shouted to the crowd that the party was to keep going.

^&^&^&^

Hugh looked up from the game of chess he was playing with Marcus, eyebrow raised as Booth marched towards him. "How may I-"

"Save it." Booth said coldly. "Hugh Davidson, you are under arrest for the murder of Terrence Dashel. And the framing of your grandson, Drew Davidson."

Hugh's warm smile faded instantly into a sneer. "He isn't no grandson of mine." He snarled. "Nuzzling up to that damn Dashel…little brat is worthless, just like his father." He looked down. "You hear me down there, Dashel? Ya screwed me again!"

"What do you mean, again?" Castle asked as Beckett read him his rights. " He stole one part from you."

"Not just that part! He stole my entire life!" Hugh screamed in rage, spittle landing on Castle's coat. "That role would have been my big break! I would have gone to Hollywood, become a bigshot! Instead I became a nobody, stuck doing folly work while that dumbass pranced about stage!"

"But you were his friend." Castle commented.

"The hell I was! He thought I liked him, but I kept waiting to see him fail, to fall, and then I would have my revenge, steal his spotlight…but all he did was make my life worse. Introduced me to my fat-ass wife." He grit his teeth, staring once more at his feet. "You say hello to the wifey down there, Dashel!" He struggled, but Booth held strong. "Birthed me my lousy son…at least he tried to become famous, but he was a failure too. Settled down, had that…little bastard."

"The little bastard you framed?" Beckett said, entering the room holding a tape recorder similar to the one Drew owned. "Look what we found in his room."

Temperance placed a swap in an evidence bag. "I found flesh on the cord. We'll need to test it to confirm it belongs to Terrence."

"You are one sick freak, you know that?" Castle muttered. "Framing your own grandson?"

"He isn't my grandson!" Hugh shouted, eyes wild and crazed. "You know…you know what he did…how he lowered himself and became a folly artist? Said he was doing it for me…rubbing it in my face that I was a failure! And then, he came to me 2 weeks ago, with the nerve to ask me what to give Terrence when he met him before the play. Oh…oh I told him just what to give him…and me and ol' Terrence had a wonderful little time puffing on them! Just like I had a wonderful time pulling the cord around his throat!" Hugh shook his head. "Damn idiot had to hit the play button…stupid gunshot prevented me from taking a few minutes to urinate on his corpse."

Marcus, who had been sitting the entire time, just stared at Hugh in horror. "How…how could you hate him so much?"

"He made it easy…the way he was, with a girl on each arm, a new one every night…no family...no bratty kids…who would want that?"

"Him." Marcus said, tears in his eyes. "He would have wanted that."

Booth forced Hugh forward. "Come on, we got a nice jail cell waiting for you."

"And plenty of new friends that will hang on your arm." Beckett snapped.

^&^&^&^

Hours later, after Hugh had been taken into custody and the foursome had filled out their paperwork, they had returned to the lab to find it all cleaned up and back to the way it was.

Of course, that was when Temperance had complained about needing something to help raise her spirits, metaphorically of course, as spirits weren't real.

After Kevin had gotten done screaming, Cam had suggested that they head over to a karaoke bar. Booth, reluctant to go after the last time had ended with a bullet in his chest, had finally agreed when Temperance had grabbed his arm and pointed out that it would be a fine way to counter the dark memories of the last time they had all gone to such a place. Beckett had been easier to convince, Castle pointing out that they would get to force people to sing and embarrass themselves.

Gathering Alexis (after she spent an hour getting the glowing paint off her face), as well as Martha and Hank, the gang had paused and finally relented to Angela and Hodgins pleas and asked/forced Kevin to join them.

And it was through all of this that the Temperance, Booth, Beckett and Castle found themselves at a table in a rather posh karaoke bar, watching as Hodgins and Angela laughed over drinks, Sweets, Kevin and Cam discussed some movie, while Martha, Hank and Alexis debated whether "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" or "Horse With no Name" was a better song.

"You know, I think it is ironic…" Beckett began, ignoring Castle's scoff that she was using the word wrong, "Hugh wanted everything he thought Terrence had. But in reality, all Terrence wanted was what Hugh possessed."

"History is filled with men going to war for what their neighbors desired, only to discover that what they believed to be gold was worthless." Temperance commented, taking a sip of her beer.

"What do you think will happen to Marcus?" Booth asked. "How do you go on after that?"

Castle shrugged. "I like to think that, if there is any decency in this world, he and Terrence will get their happy ending, if not in this world than in the next."

"Decency is a human construct, not something that the world…" Temperance paused. "You were being dramatic. Nevermind then."

"Gee Castle, I thought you would love this ending…all drama and heartbreak and tragedy." Beckett said, taking a long swig of her beer.

Castle shook his head. "Tragedy is ok…but in real life, I tend to hope for the happier ends."

"Even if they are few and far between." Booth said.

"Well, I know how I will get my happy ending." Beckett said, standing up. "By buying another round."

Castle stood up. "I'll help you."

At another table, Hodgins shifted with unease. "Listen Ang…I got you something, but I don't want you to assume that it means anything. I just knew you would like it, so…" He pulled out a copy of "East Meets West". "I head you tell Martha you'd like a signed copy…"

Angela grinned. "Oh, Hodgins…" She smiled, flipping open the cover. "Dear Hodgins…Thanks a Bunch…you are a real pal."

Hodgins slowly turned towards Kevin, glaring daggers at him.

"I am kidding." Angela said with a smile. "Kevin told me he signed the book for me." She turned to the real signing.

_'Angela, Never have I met a man go through so much just to see a small smile. I can only pray that I find a woman to work so hard for, expecting in return only her happiness. Hodgins' love for you makes all the great works pale in comparison. Yours truly, Kevin J. Allen'_

Angela, with tears in her eyes, hugged Hodgins tight.

At another table, Martha shook her head is disgust. "I seriously do not know what is wrong with those four!" She complained. "I spent so much on trying to get those four to admit their feelings and all I have to show for it is paint smeared on my butt."

"But with such a big area, its hard to see the stain." Hank quipped, laughing when Martha smacked him.

"Maybe you can't force love, Grams. Maybe you just have to let it grow at its own rate." Alexis offered.

"…no, I should have just gotten them hammered."

At the final table Sweets waved his hands in the air as he excitedly. "It was totally bitching…all six episodes of Star Wars, only taking breaks to pee."

Cam shook her head. "Sorry guys, but I am not into that torture."

Kevin grinned. "I am going to do the Lord of the Rings in one sitting. Not the theatrical stuff…the extended edition. 12 hours straight."

Sweets rolled back his head. "That is brilliant!"

Kevin nodded. "Listen, you and I should do that…"

"Totally! Hey, could I bring Daisy? She's loves the guy that plays Aragorn."

"As well she should, as a red blooded American woman." Kevin stated.

Angela stepped towards the stage as the last singer left. "Ok, I am not going to be singing…yet. But Brennan asked me to do this, and I thought it would be great." She pointed at Kevin. "For turning the lab into a dance club, you have to sing first!"

Kevin looked at Angela, grimacing. "I really don't like karaoke…last time I did it, I was 12 and singing a song from the Lion King."

"Come on, you'll do great." Cam stated.

"Only fair after you wrecked my lab!" Temperance called out.

"Besides, you have too." Angela teased. "Everyone who helped with this case has to sing just once, and I am not nearly drunk enough."

"None of us are." Beckett mumbled with a slight smile.

"Just because I am the only one here that doesn't drink, doesn't mean…" Kevin half pleaded as Sweets pushed him towards the stage.

"Come on kid, give us a good one!" Booth called out.

"Don't worry darling, I will be going after you and make them all forget how horrid you are." Martha stated, raising a glass.

"Show them what you can do, man!" Hodgins cheered, raising his glass.

With a sigh, Kevin went about trying to figure out what to sing. But before he could make his pick, Alexis ran up to him, whispering something in his ear. Smirking slightly, he selected his song and closed his eyes. Instead of the fast pace pop song they were expecting, the smooth tones of Dashboard Confessional's "Stolen" began to play.

**_We watch the season pull up its own stakes  
And catch the last weekend of the last week  
Before the gold and the glimmer have been replaced,  
Another sun soaked season fades away_**

**_You have stolen my heart_**

**_You have stolen my heart_**

Martha raised an eyebrow. "For someone that didn't want to get up there, he's doing well enough." Alexis merely nodded her head in agreement, elbowing Hank and pointing at another table, where an even more interesting scene was playing out.

"You know Bones, I've been thinking." Booth said, taking a sip of his beer.

"What about?" Temperance asked.

"About Marcus Tines and Terrence Dashel. Look at all the happiness they lost just because Marcus was afraid to take the next step." Booth shook his head. "Now Terrence's is dead, and all Marcus has left are his regrets."

Temperance nodded. "Human nature always causes us to look upon the passing of others with sadness for what we have lost, both in the person and opportunity."

"Exactly." Booth said, taking a sip of his drink. "And that has got me thinking about Sweets' talk about that…line…he thinks we have."

"Which there is none." Temperance stated.

"Exactly." Booth said. "But, if there was, don't you feel that, as a scientist, you owe it to yourself to cross into unknown territory, in order to learn what lies on the other side. I mean, I am sure you can think of a dozen examples of people suffering because they never crossed their own lines, and many more of those that, even when it turned out bad, grew because they-"

"Booth?"

"Yeah?" He asked, finding Temperance's hands on his cheeks to keep him from talking.

"Shut up." Temperance said with a slight smile, before leaning in and kissing him.

**_ You have stolen_**

**_You have stolen  
You have stolen my heart_**

Booth blinked, a look of confusion and utter joy awash on his face as Temperance broke the kiss and snuggled close to him, shifting to allow one of his strong arms to wrap around her.

"About time." Beckett muttered.

"You can say that again." Castle agreed.

"Do you think two people so different, who shouldn't work together even, can make it as a couple?"

Castle shrugged. "Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith."

Beckett nodded, and moments later, said nothing as Castle took her hand in his.

**_I watch you spin around in your highest heels  
You are the best one, of the best ones  
We all look like we feel_**

"Now see…" Hank whispered to Alexis ,glancing about the room. Booth held Temperance tight, her face pressed against his neck. Beckett and Castle stood shoulder to shoulder, fingers entwined. And at their own table, Angela and Hodgins were snuggling together, watching as Kevin sang. "No tricks, no lies…sometimes, all it takes is a nudge."

Alexis smiled slightly. "I believe this is what they call a happy ending."

**_You have stolen my_**

**_You have stolen my  
You have stolen my heart_**

^&^&^&^

_The End_

^&^&^&^

Author's Notes: All the songs within this story are real and can be found on Youtube. Go look the up.

The moment I started this crossover series, I knew I would do what the producers of both shows had not: Bring Temperance and Booth, Beckett and Castle, together. No crazy twists, no out of character moments. Just each of them realizing that in life you can't truly live without risk.

I would like to thank each and every one of you that has taken the time to review. You are the reason I work so hard on these and leave my Western novel cold and alone on my harddrive…;)

And special thanks to Darkly Dreaming, Aussieninjachick, underarrest39, yurface9311, Morrolan, and sweet psychologist

And the biggest thanks to my number one fan…my mother. Feb 26-Happy Birthday Mom.

Finally, I would like to make one last comment…Alexis said this was a happy ending. It isn't. It is only the beginning.

Roll the trailer

^&^&^&^

"When a curator of the New York Museum of Modern Art is found dead, crushed under a replicate of Dorothy Gale's house, you know there are only four investigators that can solve the mystery.

But when your suspects seem to lack brains, heart and courage…when you are searching for a runaway from Kansas… two newly minted couples trying to find their groove…and a new author who just wants to go home…you know that this case will not be a walk down the yellow brick road.

It will take more than clicking your heels three times to solve this murder."

The Bare-Foot Witch Under The House

Part Three of the Allen/Brennan/Castle Crossover Universe

Coming Very Soon


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